


Sigyn's Story

by teenydots



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Anxiety, Backstory, Blood, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury, Mild Gore, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Sexual Assault, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-02-28 11:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 34,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2730989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenydots/pseuds/teenydots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Thor: The Dark World, a servant named Sigyn accidentally sees Loki alive. Loki decides to use this to his advantage and uses her as an errand girl. Assuming he would kill her or her family if she didn't, she painfully agrees. However, after several unexpected events, they find themselves having feelings for each other, much to both of their reluctance. But they soon find out that they have bigger problems than impossible affections.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Encounter

"No... Thank you."

Sigyn nearly tripped over her own feet at those words. Fear struck her hard, like she had been slapped across the face by the back of a hand. The apples she had been carrying fell to the ground.

"What? No, it can't be. It's impossible. He's... Dead."  
Bending on one knee, she slowly started putting the apples back inside the basket. Thoughts raced through her head to reason why she heard the voice. 

"Maybe it was someone who sounded just like him. Maybe since it was so faint it could have been something completely different.Or nothing at all. Or maybe I've been working too hard and need sleep."  
She continued coming up with excuses so that she wouldn't be frightened. When she had just finished picking up the apples, she realized someone was walking near her. She hadn't even realized someone was passing by. She glanced up to see the prince, looking very happy as he walked down the corridors. Sigyn stood up quickly and bowed just before he crossed her path.

"Good day, your highness." She said respectfully.

He stopped and bowed back. "Good morning, good maiden! I wish you well on your journeys today!" He beamed.

He continued walking through the halls towards the front of the palace. He was in a surprisingly good mood today. She picked up her basket, somewhat flustered by such a joyous greeting from the prince. The legendary warrior who has saved countless lives out of the goodness of his heart. Her happiness came to a halt when she heard shuffling in the throne room, and she remembered the voice. She glanced toward the direction of the throne room. Sigyn had always been a much too curious person. As a child she would run into sacred places in the palace because she wanted to know what was in them, and why no one talked about them. Even as the adult she is today, she was still getting in trouble for getting into things and doing things that she wasn't supposed to.

She suppressed the sense of curiosity until it hurt. She shouldn't go in there. It just feels like something bad will happen. Her face twisted into a frown. She set the basket down. She couldn't help it. Maybe just a glance. By the time she had walked through the enormous doors to the throne room, she had all but convinced herself that the voice was her wild imagination. She felt her heart stop when she saw the back of a figure walking behind the throne. Her breath caught in her throat. She made no sound, pleading that they wouldn't notice her. The form halted. She stood, paralyzed, in her place. Terrified that the person on the other side of the hall was who she thought they were. She was shaking so badly that she was convinced that they could hear it. The head of the form turned slightly. The huge doors behind her slammed shut so quickly she jumped and made a small sound of terror. 

She turned around for a quick second, glanced at the doors, and immediately gave up hope that she had any chance at opening them. As soon as she turned her head back she saw him. He was directly her. Sigyn screamed and fell to the floor. She flinched and waited for the worst. Waiting for all the rumors to come true. Waiting to be tortured until he was entertained enough. Waiting to be slowly skinned alive. Waiting to feel the burns that came with fire. Waiting for her life to end as she knew it. But they never came.

Instead two hands lifted her off the ground, gently. She froze. Feeling more terror than she thought that she could ever feel. Once she was on her feet, she was looking him in the face again. 

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." He said, calmly. 

"L-Loki? But y-you're... Dead" Sigyn stuttered. She was able to breath slightly, now somewhat interested on how he's standing in this room, and not buried in the earth of another realm. He grinned.

"That's right. I am dead. And I'd like to keep it that way, understand?" His sudden change in attitude blew away any curiosity she had left and replaced it with ice. 

"I'm not even king for five minutes and I'm seen by someone." In an impressed tone, but his face was starcastic. "That takes quite some talent, sneaking up on me. Tell me, what is your name?" 

She reached desperately for breath, but she couldn't hold down any air. Loki tapped his scepter in his hands impatiently. She forced sound to come out of her mouth.

"Sigyn."

"My dear, dear Sigyn. This is actually quite a convenience for me. You're the only one who knows I'm alive. And it would be nice to have an errand girl. I will call for you when I need you. Which shouldn't be very often. Do you understand?" 

Sigyn nodded quickly.

"Good. I appreciate your cooperation. Now go." The doors opened. But she continued to stare at him, in a bewildered state. He raised an eyebrow at her. She bowed quickly and tried to walk out of the room as slowly as she could. The sound of quiet laughter came just before the door closed.


	2. The Task

Two months passed without anything happening. The longer Sigyn waited, the worse the pit in her stomach felt. Preparing herself for "Odin's" sudden change in his rule. Suspense constantly scratching the back of her head. People frequently asked Sigyn if she wasn't feeling well, because she was easily frightened. If someone were to simply call her name, she would jump. 

It began to get in the way of her servant duties. She would keep glancing behind her and stare at a single spot for long periods of time, her face brimming with anxiety. She didn't talk as much as she used to, for fear she would reveal the secret on accident. Eventually she was tasked with the simple duty of buying food for everyone, because she couldn't handle being in the Palace for very long. No one understood why.

A few more weeks went by. One day a terrified servant screamed that he had searched everywhere and that Odin was missing from the Palace. A widespread panic of what could have happened to him started. No one could understand why Sigyn didn't react.

Prince Thor came back with Lady Jane from Midgard to take over the throne until we found Odin. Once Thor had settled everything back down to normal, people seemed to stop worrying completely. It was as if they had completely forgotten Odin was missing. While everyone celebrated Thor's return and his prosperous rule, Sigyn remained quiet, but utterly confused. 

_"Why did he suddenly disappear? Had someone else found out about him? Is he pretending to be Thor? What reason could he possibly have for suddenly leaving? Did the real Odin find him? Was the real Odin dead?"_ She frequently had these thoughts for weeks.

About three months after her encounter, she was returning to the Palace from the market. She was about to walk through the gates, when a guard stopped her. 

"You, Prince Thor requests your presence." He said bluntly. Sigyn was taken aback by this.

"Wh- why?" She asked nervously.

"He hasn't specified." The guard gestured to follow him. She put down her basket of food behind a bush near the gate and followed him. They walked in silence towards the grove of trees. Sigyn began to panic.

 _"What if he's not really leading me to Thor. What if he tries to capture me? Or worse, what if he's taking me to Loki? Am I going to be killed by him because he realized he didn't need me? Is he going to make me do something horrifying? Is he going to threaten me? What if-"_ The guard grabbed her and slammed her against a tree. He covered her mouth and put a finger to his lips. She struggled underneath his strength, squirming to get away, trying not to faint from her fear. But he still held her still.

Suddenly, the guard started to glow green. Sigyn's eyes widened as the guard slowly morphed into Loki, looking annoyed as as he shushed her. She stopped moving and screaming. He smirked and slowly let go of her. Sigyn remained still, watching him. 

"Good. Now that you've finally calmed down I can-"

"What the _hel_ are you doing?!? Why did you restrain me and bring me here!?! Why couldn't you have just sent me a message to meet you instead of physically forcing me?!? Why shouldn't I just turn you in now?!? _What do you want!?!_ " Her voice echoed through the trees. The sound of guards shouting came from the distance. 

"Did you hear that too?"

"Yeah, let's go check it out." She heard them say, followed by quick footsteps. Loki growled at her as he transformed back into a guard. His face instantly changed from annoyance to flirtatious. He leaned against the tree, uncomfortably close to Sigyn. 

"I think you know _exactly_ what I want." He said in his disguised voice. The sound of footsteps were coming closer. For a moment she was completely confused. Then she realized what he was doing.

 _"Does he honestly expect me to play along? I should just scream louder and turn him in. But... wait... What if he'll kill me and run? What if he'll kill me, run, and kill my family? What if he grabs me, runs away, and torture me? I can't just run..."_

Through her fear and confusion she forced herself to giggle and look away shyly. She glanced towards the guards. They were watching with stern faces. Loki must have seen this too, and knew that it wouldn't be enough, because he suddenly turned her around and kissed her. 

Shock slammed into Sigyn at this sudden move. She never thought he would go that far. In her brief moment of haze, she remembered that it was an act. She wrapped her arms around him, forcing her way through the agony of the situation. The Guards waved them off and walked away. After a few seconds for security, Loki pushed her away, fell back against a tree, and morphed back into his real form, his face in his hands. 

"Was screaming _necessary?_ You almost revealed my existence!" He sighed. "Although I supposed you're not that much of an idiot. You did play along." Sigyn's face turned into an even deeper red than before. 

"What did you expect me to do? You basically captured me! I received no warning whatsoever, of course I would react like that." She remembered speak quietly, a repeat would definitely be bad for everyone. Loki leaned his back against the tree and folded his arms.

"I suppose someone like you would react like that." He said, standing up straight. "Now, the reason I called you."

 _"Called me?!?"_ Sigyn tried to stay calm, but she was still flustered.

Loki paused. His face slowly changed from angered to almost a troubled, confused state. He held his head, as if he were having a headache. Sigyn was surprised by this sudden change. She expected him to bark out his answer to her in a menacing, intimidating way. But he looked as if he was struggling to speak. 

"I... Need... Food." He forced out. Sigyn's sense of curiosity suddenly came back.

_"Why is he so embarrassed? He's acting as if hunger were a pathetic weakness. Why ask me for such a simple task?"_

"What? Why don't you just disguise yourself and-"

"Because it's _exhausting_ to do for long periods of time. I'd like to see you do it for more than a day." He exasperated. Now that Sigyn could look at him closely, she noticed how bad he looked. He tried to hide the fact that he was still breathing heavily. He was also much paler and thinner than when she last saw him. He had dark circles under his eyes. 

_“I suppose that’s the reason ‘Odin’ disappeared.”_ She realized.

"But... I thought you were raised a god... How could you be so tired-"

" _Don't_ talk about how I was raised." He snapped at her. The interruption reminded Sigyn who she was talking to. Her face suddenly humbled. Loki sighed. 

"Please... Just go." He turned around and didn't say anything after that. Sigyn gave up trying to ask questions and walked towards The Palace. She remembered the basket of food she had been carrying earlier. 

_“Well… I suppose since I paid for it with my own money, it’s not stealing”_ She reasoned with herself. Once she had gotten to the front gates, she checked behind the bush she put the basket behind. It was still there. She picked it up and headed back towards the grove. As she walked, her overwhelming sense of curiosity came over her again. 

_“If Loki were truly evil… Why would he help Thor fight Malekith? He could have easily killed him if he had wanted to… And how could he have a sudden change of heart after destroying an entire city on Midgard and almost eliminating Jotunheim? Was helping Thor a part of his plan to take over Odin?”_ She sighed. _“I just think too much.”_

The grove was in her sight. She looked at the tree they had been at. Loki was still there, but he looked sick. Not bothering to hide anything while she had left. He was leaning against the tree again. Not in a casual way, but for support. His head hung low. Sigyn began to wonder how long he had actually gone without having any necessary provisions. Without thinking, she purposely broke a branch to let him know she was approaching. Saving him more embarrassment. His head snapped up and he stood straight. Sigyn was appalled by her action. Why did she care about how he felt? 

She arrived at the tree. Loki snatched the basket out of her hands and stared at it for a few seconds.

"Meet me here again in exactly three months." He said, not making eye contact. Sigyn was irritated that he gave her another order instead of expressing gratitude. He turned around and started walking towards the grove. Mid-stride, he paused.

"... What was your name again?" He asked what was supposed to be an intimidating way .

"Sigyn?" 

"Ah yes... Sigyn..." Without another word, Loki disappeared into the grove.


	3. The Second Task

Three months have never felt so long to Sigyn. Yes, she dreaded meeting the most wanted criminal in Asgard. But her nagging curiosity wanted to know why he would need her in exactly three months. She constantly pondered how he could be as awful as they all say.

 _"Sure, he's rude, proud, and only cares about himself. But I can't see him committing **genocide.** Yes, he may be a bad person. But he doesn't seem like a murderer. Were they all just lies made up to exaggerate the truth, and make him feared and despised by Asgard?"_ She shook off the thought of the king lying to everyone. He was a good, gentle ruler. The only time anything bad happened under his reign was when Malekith attacked, and it was because we thought he was dead. 

Sigyn tried to distract herself by doing more servant duties then were required of her, exhausting herself would take her mind off the thought that she definitely didn't care about a horrifying, relentless, evil, feared criminal. It was just her damned curiosity. She worked so hard that Her family was concerned about why she was acting so compulsively.

"Sigyn, please talk to me. I want to know what's wrong so I can help you." Her mother kneeled next to her as she scrubbed the floors. Sigyn didn't answer. She tucked a stray piece of long, black hair behind her ear. 

"Look, I'm not going to stop asking." Her mother said, sternly. "Your brother and father are worried about you too. You're being selfish by refusing to answer and causing us to be so concerned for you."

Sigyn sighed and sat up straight.  
She would just make something up.

"Okay mother... I... There's someone..." Sigyn's mother suddenly gasped and clasped her hands together in excitement.

"Oh my! You've found someone haven't you!?! You poor girl, you're distracting yourself aren't you? It's perfectly fine, darling. Who is he? I want to meet him!" Sigyn panicked, attempting to stutter out an acceptable answer.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry. It's still a little early, isn't it? Well, please don't work too hard, or you'll hurt yourself."

Sigyn's mother stood up and walked back towards the small houses outside of the palace where all of the other servants lived. But not before reminding Sigyn what time dinner is. She half nodded. Hoping her family would never have the opportunity to meet "him".

___________________________________________________________

It had been exactly three months since they had last met. Sigyn became more and more nervous with every step she took, trying convincing herself that everything would be okay.

She arrived at the grove and tried to find the tree they met at. Once she was almost certain she had found it, she waited. Full of anxiety, for what felt like five hours, she waited. She suddenly felt movement behind her. She turned around quickly to find Loki, looking bored, as if he himself had been waiting. Sigyn instantly was irritated.

"What took you so long?!? I've been waiting here for hours!" She huffed. Loki laughed slightly. 

"I've been here this whole time." He gestured around the area he was standing in. "I've just been waiting for you to notice I was here." 

Sigyn sighed in defeat, knowing getting angry would get her nowhere. 

"You're incredibly hilarious. Now what did you want from me again?" She asked, rolling her eyes. Loki smirked, amused by her starcasm. 

"I need my daggers."

"How idiotic do you think I am? You honestly expect me to just hand you weapons?"

"No, I dont." His trademark mischievous smile appeared on his face. Sigyn wanted to throw her fist at him.

"I simply need them to hunt and survive in this wilderness." He said, not even attempting to sound like he was trying to convince her. 

"And I'm supposed to believe you, whom everybody refers to as 'The God of Lies', because you think I'm weak enough to give into your will and do whatever you tell me to do? I'd rather lose a hand then give you the ability to easily kill someone." She stated, folding her arms.

"You know, if I wanted to kill someone, I wouldn't need my daggers." He said, too casually. "I could do it with my bare hands if I wanted to. Do you believe me, or do I need to show you?" Sigyn shook her head quickly, silenced by his first actual threat to her. Even though he would have probably killed an animal, excessive amounts of blood make her sick. She fidgeted her hands, defeated. 

_"He's more than capable to have killed anyone he wanted to by now... Maybe he is telling the truth."_ She thought to herself.

"Well... How do you expect me to get them? I can't just walk into the weapons hall and take them!" Sigyn fumed. Loki suddenly had a curious look to his face. 

"Why are you so tired? The last time I saw you, you were much more energetic." He said, with actual interest in his voice. Sigyn sighed.

"I've been working harder than usual lately. I'm not getting much sleep and I suppose the stress-"

"You worried about me." 

Sigyn's head snapped up to look at his much too satisfied face. She had no idea why she had been so concerned about him this whole time. He was foolish, immature, spoiled brat. 

She turned around and walked back towards the castle.

"Where are you going?" He called after her.

"To get your damned knives!" She yelled back, not caring if anyone heard her.

___________________________________________________________

It was surprisingly easy to get into the weapons hall. What with her being an innocent, defenceless, small girl, who would never want to go in such a dangerous place. Thus, it was simple to make a distraction. Sigyn had made it to the entrance of the weapons hall when she saw the two guards standing at their post. Hiding around the corner, she made her hair look realistically messy, tore off a large piece of her apron, smashed a red berry she had picked earlier on her cheek, and threw herself into the wall as hard as she could.

"No! Get away! Stop! Please!" Sigyn cried as pitiful as possible, banging on the walls, trying to make as much noise as she could. Sure enough, the two guards turned the corner and saw Sigyn. She tried to cry as realistically as possible.

"What happened? Are you alright?" One of them asked calmly.

"Th- the- there was t-this man who-" She stuttered through sobs. The other guard nodded. "Where did he go?" Sigyn pointed a shaky finger in the opposite direction of the weapon hall.

“Okay, Martch, go and find Bard to guard the Weapon Hall. I last saw him near the throne room. Be quick, we can't leave the hall unguarded for long. I'll go after the attacker. Will you be okay here?” The first one asked. She nodded and whimpered. 

"Very well, we won't be gone for long." Both guards ran in opposite directions

 _"Finally."_ She wiped off the mush from her face and went inside the weapons hall. 

_"The throne room... That means I have about three minutes."_ Sigyn thought to herself, scanning the different glass cases. She rushed through the room, passing swords, flails, spears, scepters, amulets, and things she didn't even recognize. When she finally arrived at the small knives section, she realize she had no clue what they looked like.

"Well... What would royalty use?" She reasoned, trying not to think about how much time she had left. She Skipped the ones she knew belonged to simple knights and peasant folk. Her eye caught hold of a pair of daggers, with a golden hilt, and silver blade. Inscribed on the blade of each one was: "Good Luck-- Frigga." 

"Frigga... I suppose these are his then." she opened the case, took both knives, made sure the glass closed tightly, and ran out of the Weapon Hall. She had just turned the corner, when someone stopped her. 

"Are you alright? Why are you running? Was someone here?" The voice of the second guard from earlier said. Sigyn hurried and hid the knives in the pocket of her apron. 

"Oh... Well... My mother, she's been expecting me back by now. I just wanted to let her know that I was alright." She gave the guard a kind look. "Thank you for helping me."

"It is our duty, young maiden." He said, returning to his post along with who was probably Bard. She curtsied and walked quickly back to the grove. When she was going down the steep hill in between the palace and her destination, a sudden, sharp pain came on her left arm, followed by warm liquid dripping down her hand. 

One of the knives tore through her pocket and cut the arm she was using to support the weight of them. Surprisingly, they were so sharp, it didn't hurt nearly as much as she thought it would. But the sight of the blood made her feel lightheaded. Annoyed by yet another delay, she tore another piece of her apron and tied it around her shallow cut. She decided it would be best if she just held the daggers in her hands the rest of the way.

Hoping Loki wasn't playing his hiding game again, she arrived at the tree where they met. He was still there, making green swirls in the air with his fingers.

"I got what you wanted." Sigyn said, a little too aggressively. With a wave of his hand, the green lights disappeared. He held out his hand in front of her, not even taking a look at her,as if she were his personal servant. She tried to pay attention to the annoyance of the small pain in her arm instead of Loki's smug face as he took them. He glanced at her and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Were you attacked?" He asked in what was supposed to be a casual way.

"No, I pretended to be attacked so I could-"

"No, not your hair or your face, you clearly did that on purpose. I'm talking about your arm." 

"Oh." Sigyn looked down at the redding piece of cloth. "I accidentally cut myself with one of your daggers on the way here. It's not very deep at all and it doesn't-" She was interrupted by Loki dropping his daggers and suddenly grabbing her arm.

"Hey! Let go of me!" She shouted, attempting to release herself from his grasp. He shushed her harshly, and seemed to concentrate on her arm. Her wound started to glow green.

"What, are, you, doing?!?" She shrieked, struggling harder. He shushed her again, not having the least bit of trouble holding on to her. Sigyn decided it would be no use and became still, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting for the worst. A few seconds passed, and he let go of her arm. She held it close to her.

"What was that for?!?" Although she didn't feel a difference, he did something to her. And she assumed it wasn't good. 

"You should be thanking me right now." Loki said as he picked up his knives from the ground. "I just saved your life. My daggers are enchanted. So that even if I graze an enemy, they still die. I'm the only one who can reverse the enchantment." Sigyn looked at her arm in bewilderment.

"Shouldn't you have told me that before I went running with them?!?" She said yelled, angered that he endangered her life without telling her.

"I knew that you were more than capable of handling it." He said, scanning over his daggers. "Plus on the off chance you did hurt yourself, I knew you'd come in time for me to reverse it. At the most it takes twenty minutes to take effect. Although... You're considerably smaller than enemies I usually fight. I suppose I should have taken that into consideration. But, you're fine. So everything worked out for both of us." His tone was as if he were talking about how his day went.

Sigyn gave up on expecting anything decent to come from him. She had just started to walk away, when Loki stopped her.

"Hold on, I'm not finished yet." He said, almost musically. She turned on her heel and made the most sarcastic smile she could.

"What do you need, your highness?" Her voice oozed with mockery. Loki laughed, surprised at how easily he could irritate her.

"I need you back here in a month." He stated. "I'm not sure when I'll be able to meet you here, so just come in the afternoon and wait here until I show up. I shouldn't take long." Sigyn held her head in her hands. Not sure why she even tried to understand anymore.

"Why do you need me here? Do you need me to go get something again? Why can't I just do it now instead of in a month?"

"No, I don't need you to get anything." Said Loki, annoyed that he had to explain. "I just need you here."

"Why? Why do I just need to be here?" She whined. "Why are you only calling for me every couple of months instead of just getting everything done all at once? Why aren't you telling me anything? Why are you not torturing me to get what you want? Why did you help Thor after trying to destroy Midgard? _Why?!?_ " Although he attempted to not show it, shock appeared momentarily on his face.

"Why would you care about knowing any of that?" He half laughed. "Don't you have servent things to do?"

"Because if I'm going to have to live in suspense for the rest of my life, not knowing what law I'm going to break next, not knowing if it's the day you don't need me anymore, killing me to dispose of any evidence, hoping I'm not commanded to kill, worrying about my family day and night, I deserve to know!" Sigyn ranted. This time Loki didn't even try to hide his shock. He was momentarily speechless. Sigyn herself was surprised that something she said had actually gotten to him. His attitude changed from proud, to humble. His face showed genuine kindness.

"I'm sorry Sigyn. I had no idea how much this affected your life. After our next meeting, I will let you go. And I give you my word, I will never hurt you, or your family." Loki promised.

Sigyn stood in a state of disbelief, wondering how simply mentioning her family could make him change completely.

"I... Thank you." She managed to say. "But... Why suddenly let me go? You won't need me anymore?" 

"All in good time darling, all in good time."


	4. The Surprise

Sigyn somehow was comforted by Loki's promise. Her worrying stopped. And, aside from the occasional forced lie, she was almost normal again.

A month passed quickly for Sigyn. She was finally able to enjoy herself with her family and friends without feeling like she was exposed to the world. Though she felt peace, the question of what would happen when she went back to the grove still nagged at her.

The time had come for her to meet Loki at the tree they usually met at. The excuse she told her family was that she had been asked by her "Someone" to spend a day or two with him. Sigyn's mother gleefully granted permission. Meanwhile her older brother reminded her about his skill with spears, just in case she needed it. 

_

Sigyn arrived at the tree in the late afternoon. She remembered that Loki said he wasn't sure when he would show up, so she sat on the ground and waited.

A few hours went by, and the afternoon turned into evening. Sigyn kept reminding herself that, for some reason, he would take a while. So she entertained herself by snapping sticks in half and feeding berries from bushes to animals that came near. Little birds played with each other and sang songs together in the trees. The nature brought a sense of peace to her.

A few more hours went by. The sky had gone completely dark, illuminated by the stars and other planets in the realm of Asgard. The grove became alive with the sound of insects and animals who only came out in the dark. Sigyn really started to worry. Not as much about her own safety as the suspense of what was going to happen. Waiting for hours and hours made her slightly groggy, which only enhanced her emotions. 

She knew that going in the grove and looking for him would be a really bad idea. People very easily got lost in there if they didn't know the grove by heart. Not to mention it was night time. And he was probably doing something dangerous in there.

 _"I don't know how much longer I should keep waiting."_ She thought to herself. _"What if he thought it was tomorrow instead of today? It's the middle of the night now. Why would he tell me to come in the afternoon if he would just keep me waiting for hours on end? Well, he did play that ridiculous trick where he hid himself until I could find him. Although... He seemed much more serious about this meeting than any of the others. What if he had come earlier and I missed him?"_

Sigyn hadn't even noticed that she had started pacing. She always started pacing when she was trying to figure something out. She never understood why. When her legs began to get tired, she decided to climb a tree and see if she could find something. Just before taken hold of the first branch, birds started to frantically fly away. Sigyn stopped moving and listened closely. She heard footsteps. But not steady, consistent footsteps. They sounded as if someone was limping. No... Not limping. Dragging. They sounded as if someone were dragging themselves with enormous effort. Sigyn's heart pounded so hard it hurt her chest. They were getting closer. She stood, her feet stuck to the ground, waiting to see what would come out from behind the trees. A figure came into sight.

It was Loki. He had a massive wound that extended from his right shoulder down the the left side of his waist. He hung his head, falling on trees for support, weakly holding his waist and coughing.

Sigyn gasped so loud that it echoed all the way through the grove and scared more of the animals away. She felt extremely dizzy because of the extensive amounts of blood that dripped down and soaked his arm. Her legs shook until she couldn't feel them anymore. Loki noticed her and held up his head. His face turned from struggle to huge relief.

"Sigyn." His voice forced out. His strength collapsed and he plummeted to the ground.

Sigyn sprinted over to him, kneeling next to his shaking body.

"Are you faking this?!? Loki, please tell me if you're faking this!" She absolutely hated to ask, but she had to make sure. He shook his head as much as he could.

"Okay..." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to get a healer. Will you be able to stay-" Loki's hand suddenly shot up and clutched her arm.

"... No... I'll be... seen." He coughed harder. his words were pained.

"Well would you rather live and stay in prison for life or die?!?" She yelled. Sigyn couldn't believe he actually didn't want to be healed.

"... You do it." 

"What?!? But..." Tears fell down her face as she tried to talk while she cried. "I'm not a healer... I'd have to do it manually. I'm not even sure I can do it manually. Plus you'd be in even more pain..." He grabbed her arm tighter. Sigyn was surprised he hadn't broken it. She sobbed once or twice.

"... Okay. Okay. I'm going to get the medical supplies I have for emergencies. I'll go as fast as I can. Please... don't die while I'm gone." He let go of her and his arm fell to the ground. She stood up and ran as fast as she could to her village.


	5. The Wounded

Sigyn arrived to her small house, hoping that her family was still in the palace so she wouldn't have to explain why she grabbed the medical box and sprinted back out the door. Luckily, they weren't there. So she ran back to the grove. Although, her fear made it feel like she was walking.

Praying with all of her might that he didn't die while she was gone, Sigyn approached where he collapsed. He was still there. Still alive. But only barely. He was deathly pale, lying in a pool of his own blood and shaking badly. She sat down next to him and opened the box. The sight of the different tools inside only heightened her panicking. She had never thought she would actually have to use these. Sigyn closed her eyes, took a deep, shaky breath, and picked up the scissors with her trembling hands. 

Loki didn't move much. He simply stared directly above him, focusing on fighting the pain. Sigyn picked up the torn clothing from around his wound and started cutting it off. It was slightly difficult, because the clothing stuck to his skin from the blood. She tried to be gentle and move as fast as she could. Once enough had been removed, she picked up the bottle of cleaning solution. Her mother used to put this on the small cuts and scrapes she used to have. She remembered how much it stung with simply a small laceration. Sigyn opened the lid, not knowing what to expect.

"This... Will hurt." She said quietly. Loki didn't move at all. He kept looking at the sky above him. Sigyn held her breath as she poured a little bit on his wound. He half groaned, half growled loudly. Squeezing his eyes shut. Sigyn quickly put down the bottle and started crying again.

"I c-can't do this. I'm going to get someone." She attempted to stand up, but he grabbed her arm again. 

"No!" He cried out, before becoming silent again.

"... Please." He said quietly. His tone was clear. He wasn't commanding her, he was asking her. Asking her to stay, asking her to save him.

He suddenly coughed up blood violently. Sigyn almost fainted, completely unsettled by the excessive amounts of blood. She held her face in her hands, gaining the strength she needed to continue. He would die if she didn't do anything. She kneeled next to him and picked up the bottle again, feeling extremely nauseated. 

"Okay... I'll try." She whispered. "Cleaning it all at once would just send you deeper into shock, so I'm going to clean it slowly."

Sigyn tried to block it out. She tried to ignore his cries of agony. She tried to not look at his face, terrified of what she would see. She focused everything she had on her trembling hands, praying to every celestial being for strength. In what felt like an eternity, she had finally finished. Sigyn dropped the bottle and never wanted to pick it up again.

"Okay... Now I need to sew it shut." She said, mostly talking to herself. If Loki had been pale before, it was so much worse now. He actually looked like he was scared, his still eyes were filled with fear. Sigyn tried to remind herself that the worst part was over, but she didn't feel any relief.

Putting thread through the needle, she realized this would be the first time she would come in contact with his blood. She forced herself through her dizziness and started working. Sigyn was incredibly grateful that she received no reaction from him, making it much easier for her to work. She was so busy concentrating on not fainting, the needle kept slipping in her hands from the blood, almost worsening his injury. Eventually she finally finished, cutting the thread off with her teeth.

"Okay, I need you to sit up as much as you can." She said, unraveling bandages. He raised from the ground weakly. She wrapped the bandages around his wound. Neither of them spoke. She tied the bandage and he was finally done.

"I need to take you somewhere where you can rest. I could bring you to my village, but the closest way would be to go past the front of the palace. You would be seen and captured. The only other way would be to go around behind the palace, but it takes twice as long and we still run a small risk of being caught." Loki's face twisted into a concentrated state.

"We'll go around." He said, clearly not looking forward to the struggle. Helped him stand up, trying to be as gentle as she possibly could. She was shorter and much smaller than him, but she decided to help support his weight anyway. She slung his arm around her shoulder and gave him an "Are you ready?" Look. He responded by walking forward, trying to avoid talking.

They walked, slowly, around the back of the palace. Sigyn could tell he was trying to keep as much weight off of her as he could. She didn't know why he made this attempt at a kind gesture. He had just been mutilated for Odin's sake. Despite his efforts, he constantly ended up stumbling and stopping to catch his breath. She herself was feeling a little winded.

About halfway around, Sigyn heard footsteps coming near. She started panicking, trying to figure out what to do. 

"Loki... Are you able to disguise yourself for a moment?" She felt like she was asking him to carry a building. He stopped walking, closed his eyes and focused. He started to glow green, slowly transforming into his guard form. Not a moment too soon, another guard came around the corner. He looked at Sigyn and Loki, almost suspiciously.

"What's wrong with him?" The guard asked, pointing. Sigyn thought as quickly as she could. She forced herself to smile weakly.

"Oh. He just drank a little bit too much tonight. I'm taking him home now." She said, worried that the shaking in her voice would give something away. The guard laughed.

"Do you need any help?" He asked. Loki started getting heavier.

"Oh, no. But thank you for the offer!" She said, trying to sound as grateful as possible. The guard waved her off and rounded the other corner. Sigyn looked around to see if anyone was there.

"Okay, we're safe." She whispered. He snapped back into his original form, gasping and sweating. It clearly had been extremely tiring and painful. She held him steady as he recovered.

"Okay... Let's keep moving." She said, reassuringly. They walked again, slower than before. Sigyn tried not to think of what would happen if another guard showed up. She focused on supporting his increasingly heavy weight and walking forward. In what seemed like years, she saw the flicker of lights from her village. She silently rejoiced at their arrival. Finally feeling like everything might turn out okay.


	6. The Gratitude

By the time Sigyn had walked through the threshold of her home, her legs had all but caved in. She could feel the fear leave her as she was engulfed by the welcoming atmosphere of the place she was so familiar with. Still, they had both walked for so long under so much stress, it was a miracle that they were still standing, let alone walking. Sigyn and Loki persevered through their last strides as they headed toward her bedroom. They both were extremely relieved when she placed him on the bed in her small living space. But Sigyn remembered that her family would be home very soon. They normally respected her privacy, but there was still a big chance that they could see him, and it would be very hard to explain that her supposed "Special Someone" was the Traitor of Asgard.

She needed to think of a cover up in case they saw him. She sighed as she picked up the spark rocks beside her hearth.

"It's not what you're used to, I know, but I'll try my best to make it acceptable." Sigyn said, as she tried start a fire. Loki was silent, still recovering. After a few minutes she gave up. The rocks were old and worn out, it would be impossible to generate heat from them. She dropped them on the ground in defeat, and started walking toward the door.

"I'll be right back." She mumbled, stepping out of her room. She gasped a little too loudly when she found that her family was back, about to go to sleep. She slammed the door behind her quickly. Sigyn's older brother, Ragmore, turned and spotted her with his sleepy eyes.

"Sigyn." He yawned. "Why are you here? Didn't you say you would be gone for-" He stopped in his tracks as his eyes began to focus more clearly.

"Is that blood?" He asked, shocked. Sigyn looked down at her apron and widened her eyes. Then she saw her bloodstained hands. In a hurry, she spoke the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh! Well... He... Um... B-Bard was teaching me how to hunt and skin animals." She said, gesturing to her apron. "While he was helping me, he accidentally cut his hand and had to go see a healer, so I had to come home. But he's alright. I'll visit him tomorrow" Sigyn tried to hide her flinch, she just realized she had used the name of one of the guards in the palace she had met when stealing Loki's knives. Across the room, Sigyn's father laughed in approval.

"A man who teaches you how to survive instead of telling you to shine his shoes. That's someone worthy of my daughter." He said, beaming. Sigyn attempted to laugh normally, but it came out as a squeak. 

"Sigyn, you look terribly exhausted." Her mother said, touching her dirt covered face. "You should sleep, you've probably had quite the adventure today, haven't you?" She smiled at Sigyn, clearly proud of her newly grown up daughter. The sight of it put a pain in her chest.

"You have no idea, mother. Anyway, I need to get new spark rocks for my bedroom." Sigyn said as she approached the cupboard. Before she could pick them up, Ragmore snached them before she could.

"Here, I'll start it." He offered, starting towards her bedroom door.

"No!" She shouted loudly. Ragmore gave her a confused look.

"I mean... There's a certain way I like to build my fires. It gives off more warmth and lasts longer." Sigyn took the rocks from him, giving him a kind smile. He looked at her with an "I will never be able to understand you" look. 

"Alright. Whatever you want." He said, walking towards the kitchen. Sigyn moved back to her bedroom door, opened it just enough to fit in, and stepped inside. Loki was sitting up, he had obviously been listening.

"Have you been pretending I'm your lover? " He asked quietly, as to not let the others hear. He always had time to be amused, even when he was not so long ago on the verge of dying.

"Shut up. What would you have supposed I'd have said?" Sigyn snapped, having finally started a fire. She sighed and absorbed the warmth through her hands, the cold night air finally leaving her body. She heard Loki stand up. 

"No, you need to lay-" before she could finish her sentence, he sat down next to her, slightly grunting in pain. Sigyn grit her teeth, irritated he never wanted to listen to anyone.

They sat in silence, staring at the flames devouring the wood. After a few minutes, Sigyn began to slightly drift off into sleep, forcing herself to open her eyes and stay awake. Her family outside the door had gone quiet, already asleep. Sigyn was snapped back into full consciousness when Loki finally spoke.

"Sigyn... Thank you." He whispered, his eyes fixed on the fire.

"Oh... Well you couldn't just stay in the grove alone injured like that. It was the least-"

"I'm not talking about just letting me stay here." He interrupted, looking her in the eyes. "I'm saying thank you for everything you've done for me. You've done everything I've ever asked of you. Everything. You saved my life. You persevered through your fears. You helped the most wanted criminal in Asgard. I threatened you and you still were loyal to me. I don't understand why you never left or why you always came back, the only other person who has ever done that for me was my Mother. Not even Thor or Odin. Thank you, Sigyn. I would have died long ago if it weren't for you."

Words completely failed Sigyn at this statement. She was bewildered to have received such thanks from the likes of him. She avoided eye contact in her slight embarrassment.

"...You're welcome, Loki." She said, very quietly. The response she received was the sudden shock when he hugged her. Loki held Sigyn as tight as he could in his current state of health. Sigyn's cheeks burned as she slowly returned the embrace. She was awestruck at the emotion this "heartless criminal" was displaying. This wasn't fake, it was genuine. His warm, strong arms wrapped around her, trying to translate his gratitude. She kept telling herself to stop feeling so shy. She shouldn't be feeling emotions toward this man, it wasn't right. Her thoughts were interrupted by Loki flinching. Sigyn immediately released her grasp before she could cause any further pain.

"Oh!.. I'm... sorry." She whispered. Loki looked at her kindly and took her hands in his.

"Sigyn... Everything will be alright. You've been through... so many things you shouldn't have had to go through. I promise I'll make it up to you." His hands were still slightly cold from losing blood and being in shock. Sigyn realized he must truly be the son of Odin to have even this much energy after so much blood loss and pain. Her cheeks burned harder. She was practically screaming at herself to stop feeling this way. It wasn't right. Every feeling of kindness she had ever had towards him wasn't right. He was royalty. She was a servant. He was a criminal. She was a commons folk. Sigyn forced herself to get away from the situation. She let go of his hands.

"Thank you, Loki. You should probably sleep now. You need rest, that was a serious injury you had." He nodded.

"... I suppose you're right."


	7. The Dream

Sigyn decided it would be best if she brought her old bed back into her room, so that one of them wouldn't have to sleep on the ground. Before she left, she gave him some of Ragmore's clothes to change into. She couldn't just leave him in bloodsoaked, torn clothes. Plus his clothes were distinguishable to royalty. Ragmore was around his height and build, so she just hoped that it would work.

She left her bedroom and made her way to the storage area of her house. After searching through shovels, axes, rope, and behind shelves, She found the old cot behind rotting lumber. Thankfully, it wasn't heavy. She was able to drag it back to her room with minimal noise. Although she almost pushed a chair over by accident. As soon as Sigyn reached her door, she hesitated, grasping what she was actually doing. She was hiding a fugitive. Before, it would have only been her that would have gotten in trouble. Now her family could be charged with criminal intent as well. Her hand rested on the doorknob, debating on if she would really put her family in danger. She shivered, deciding she would deal with this after she slept.

Sigyn opened her door to find Loki sitting on her bed, in Ragmore's white shirt and brown trousers, staring at the fire intensely. Her breath caught in her throat, she had never seen him in anything less than his royal clothes. But now he looked like a commoner. She could focus more clearly at his face, not distracted by the reminder of his royalty. His soft, yet chiseled features outlined by the shadows cast by the fire, his emerald green eyes, the dark cascade of his hair. She almost became lost in his glare that radiated a thousand emotions at once. She could see the anger, fear, despair, regret, embarrassment, and the madness. It was all so captivating that she froze in her place.

He suddenly looked up and saw her standing at the doorway. He gave her a "What are you staring at me for" look. Sigyn cleared her throat and finished dragging the cot into her room. 

"Alright, now you really should sleep. You need to if you're going to get any better." She grumbled, brushing off the cot.

"I'll sleep there." He stated, pointing at the cot on the floor. Sigyn sighed, not wanting to have this conversation.

"Listen, you almost died. You need to sleep on my bed while you're still severely injured. And don't tell me that I deserve to be in the bed that I sleep in every single night anyway. You're probably still in a lot of pain. You'll sleep there tonight and then I'll sleep there tomorrow, okay?" Loki looked a little surprised. He realized arguing with her would be no use, so her rolled over reluctantly and became quiet.

Sigyn's efforts, however, were pointless. She couldn't sleep for most of the night. She lay awake in her bed, marveling at the events that had unfolded that night. Pondering the terror and desperation she had felt. Wondering if it really happened at all. Every once in a while her eyes wandered to Loki She couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not. Although he was motionless and silent, she didn't know for sure. Then again, he seemed a little too still. She dragged through the silence, waiting to fall asleep, for morning to come, anything. The fire shrunk into embers, glowing through the darkness and illuminating the room. Shadows cast about everywhere, creating the appearance of mangled shapes against the walls. Just as she began to get drowsy, through her window she could see the first traces of light enter the sky, the insects quieted down, and she heard the first whistles of birds in the distance.

______________________

Sigyn saw the cage with iron bars in the distance, becoming larger. The more she walked away, the closer it became. She attempted to run, only to find her feet were buried in the ground. She didn't want to look at the cage, she didn't want to see who was inside. She felt something on her hands. She saw blood drip from them steadily, capturing her gaze as she watched it make a pattern on the grass. The iron cage was suddenly right in front of her, the person inside screaming for help. She sluggishly looked at who it was.

"My father? No... Loki? ...Yes. It's him."

It focused clearly now. Loki was clanging against the bars, screaming. Terror was in his eyes. Pure, concentrated, terror.

"Sigyn! You need to run! Run now! Please go!"

She reached slowly for one of the bars, grasping it. It crumbled in her hands. The whole cage dissolved away, and Loki disappeared. She looked around, searching.

"Where did he go? Is he to the left? No. To the right? No. Behind-"

A great force slammed into her, forcing out all of the air from her lungs. She slowly looked in front of her to see she had been impaled through the chest with a sword. Her eyes widened as she looked up and saw Loki behind the hilt. His smile twisted by madness, his eyes spilled over with insanity, hungering. He twisted the sword violently. She suddenly felt pain, burning, pulsing, ripping, shredding pain. She shrieked as it tore through her, lashing out unceasingly. She fell to the ground, gasping. Laughs rang through the air as she started drowning in blood. Crimson washing away the world.

_________________________________

The next thing Sigyn knew, someone was pounding on her door. She shot up in bed, sweating and breathing heavily, shaken from the most vivid dream she had ever had. She looked at her bed, it was empty. She felt sick.

"Sigyn? You've slept in. You need to get up or you'll be in trouble at the palace." Her Father said from outside the door. 

"Don't worry, Father. I'll be right out!" She called, jumping out of the bed. She scanned the room, looking to see if Loki had left a clue to where he went.

" _Loki!_ " She hissed. No response. She groaned, storming out of the room. Her eye suddenly caught on an olive green leaf with on the exact center on Loki's pillow. It was placed so perfectly, it couldn't have just blown on it. She picked it up, and found a very small, golden "L" on the tip. She sighed in relief when she realized he was okay. Then she crumpled the leaf in her hand, angry that he didn't tell her that he was leaving, and that he was moving so much while he was still injured. She got dressed, bid her family goodbye, and headed to the grove.


	8. The Flashback

Sigyn didn't even realize how late she had actually slept in until she went outside. It was early afternoon by the time she had even left her house. She realized he might have not been sleeping at all, and then left when she fell asleep. He could have been gone for hours. She started to over think the situation and became nervous. 

_"How long had he been gone? My family obviously didn't notice him... What if he's hurt again? What if he was caught? What if he's being imprisoned right now!? I have to find him. I'm not letting all of my efforts go to waste."_ Of course, she tried to convince herself that was the _only_ reason.

She decided to go to the palace gates first and ask one of the guards if anything unusual happened today.

"Why do you ask?" Questioned the guard, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh... Well, because I haven't seen Lady Jane in ages. Has there been any word about her? I'm curious." It was true. She hasn't been seen by anyone in months. 

"I'm sorry, My Lady. But no word has come about Lady Jane." 

"Ah, well, thank you anyway, Good Sir." She curtsied, relieved that he hadn't been caught. She had just started walking toward the grove when she realized that they could be keeping it quiet, so that they wouldn't cause a commotion. She felt another wave of nervousness and tread onward. While she walked, she recollected the events that had happened the night before. Remembering that she had noticed his face for the first time. Remembering Loki's gratitude, his embrace, his genuinity, how she felt, the silence dividing them, her denial... And her dream. Sigyn's pace gradually slowed until she had come to a complete stop. The grove was within sight, but she felt as if a weight were holding her in her place. She felt nauseated, and suddenly found herself not wanting to continue to the grove. She fought an internal battle, between what was right, and what she wanted to be right.

Sigyn shook her head. Like it or not, she needed to confirm he was okay, and maybe scold him for being so impatient and risking himself further injury. That's all she needed to do. Feeling as if she were walking towards an enemy, she forced her legs forward.

Soon she had reached the grove, stopping at their tree. She scanned the area, he was nowhere to be found.

"Loki!" She called out quietly. No answer. She groaned in frustration, putting her head in her hand. Sigyn's eyes caught an area on the ground that was covered in dry blood. Memories suddenly flashed before her eyes. Her heart and breathing quickened, feeling the panic she had felt that night. Her hands shook and her head clouded. The fear of blood she had suppressed the night before came flooding back to her. Tears rolled down her face as she remembered his cries of pain that she herself had caused. It became harder and harder to breath. She re-lived the moment again and again, becoming extremely light headed as she fell to her knees, terrified she would be stuck in this cycle forever.

"Sigyn?" A voice echoed. She broke down into heavy sobs at the sound of his voice. Her relief made emotions pour out of her. All of her fear, confusion, sadness and anger she had suppressed for almost a year came out in waterfalls of tears. She put her face in her shaking hands, overwhelmed. She suddenly felt someone kneel next to her.

"Sigyn! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Came a voice, holding her shoulders. Sigyn looked up in her emotional state and slapped Loki across the face. He clearly wasn't hurt by it, but he was shocked at her actions. Sigyn realized what she had just done and immediately regretted it, recoiling her hand.

"What was that for?!?" He asked, perplexed. He wasn't even angry that a commoner struck royalty, he was genuinely confused. Sigyn held her hand close to her and looked at the ground, embarrassed.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Loki. I wasn't thinking." She mumbled, glancing at him. She became startled by his sudden change in appearance. He had cut his hair to chin length. He was still wearing Ragmore's clothes. He had dirt smeared on one side of his face, as to make him look like a field worker or a servant. Besides the way his face looked, he had transformed himself to an ordinary peasant. He looked less and less like the murder of thousands, and more and more like a normal person. Without the outer appearance of his criminal self, Sigyn almost slapped her own face, beginning to lose her own war. Loki's face somewhat relaxed at her apology.

"It's okay. But are you hurt?" He asked, a little bit too concerned. She shook her head, clearing her face of any tears. Anger began boiling inside her as she looked at his all too innocent face. 

"Do you have any idea how scared you made me?!?" Sigyn exclaimed, standing up suddenly, followed by a very lost Loki. "You left me without telling me! I thought you had been captured! You could have made yourself worse! Are you hurt?!? Of course you're not!" She knew was taking her confliction out on Loki, but she didn't care. She was tired of concealing her feelings. His face filled with remorse.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you. But I didn't want to wake you." He said. Sigyn almost thought he might have been lying, that there might have been a different reason, but he was too hard to read. In her rampage, she was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness from her re-opened emotional trauma. She stumbled and held her head, trying to regain her balance. 

"Sigyn!" Came Loki's voice, sounding far away. In her struggle to remain steady, she tripped on a rock. Right before she hit the ground, however, Loki's extremely fast reflexes caught her. 

As her head cleared up, she opened her eyes to see a very worried Loki, holding her as easily as if she were a doll. It was as if the universe was trying to break her inner strength. Sigyn climbed out of his arms and made sure to stand solidly on the ground.

"I'm fine. I just... Wanted to make sure you were okay." She squinted at him. "If you think you're going to get away with simply chopping your hair off, you're in for some bad luck." Loki looked as if he had been waiting for her to say that. He waved a hand over his face, and with a simple change of facial features, he proudly presented his new face. He was completely unrecognizable if you stood a little ways away from him. He even changed his eye color to a sapphire blue. Sigyn blinked for a moment, stunned by this simple, yet incredible transformation.

"But last night you couldn't do that for more than a minute without-" 

"Ah yes, but smaller portions means less effort." He said cunningly, waving his hand over his disguise. He returned to his normal form, his sly smile remained. Sigyn stood, stunned. Remembering that he was, in fact, a god. He healed ten times faster than a normal person would. Unwanted disappointment shattered through her, realizing that she was the normal person. She began to feel sick again, and wanted an excuse to leave.

"I... I have servant duties to do. Give me a sign that you want to meet here again so I can keep making sure you're okay... and so that I can tell you if anything important happens inside the palace." She added quickly. He simply nodded, obviously not fooled. 

"Sigyn, you do realize you're not under my command anymore. You came last night, and my vow was that you could be free if you did. You did more than I expected of you... In fact, I'm the one in your debt." 

Remembering his promise, Sigyn froze in her place. She didn't have to see him anymore if she didn't want to. She didn't need to wait for ages in suspense anymore. She could live her life without the fear of death upon herself and her family. She could be free. Instead of deciding to make him do something for herself, like she should have done, she simply sighed.

"Just... Don't get hurt again, okay?"


	9. The Repayment

Sigyn began to see Loki more often after that. They never spoke, but every once in a while she would spot him in the middle of a crowd at the markets or working in the fields. Every time her eyes landed on him, her heart would skip a beat, her breath catching in her throat. She began to doubt her own morality when she was slowly losing her grip on herself, wondering if she was finally slipping into madness. After shoving her feelings back down her throat for so long, it seemed highly possible.

Even though Loki always disguised himself, she could tell it was him. Not only had she remembered the face he had shown her, but the way he carried himself was different from everyone else. He had always walked as if he were more important than everyone around him. While the humble commoners walked as if they were all equals, he was towering over people to show his dominance. He still moved in that manner, but more so than normal, as if he was worried his power was threatened.

Despite the obnoxious energy he exerted, Sigyn found herself hoping that she would be able to see him almost every day, even if they didn't speak. She was constantly looking around her to see if he was there, even when she was in a room by herself. Every once in a while while she was walking down a vacant hallway or through an open area in the village, she would see movement in the corner of her eye, something hiding in the shadows, only whipping her head around to find nothing.

On one occasion, Sigyn had been walking through the village square, making her way home with a bucket of water. Walking through the evening crowd of people on their way back to their homes, she spotted Loki helping a child carry firewood. He looked up from the child and his eyes caught her gaze, resulting at him winking playfully at her. She blushed furiously and walked faster. 

After a few weeks of catching glances and attempting to avoid each other, Sigyn finally received a message from him. She had just gotten home from working a long, hard day. She was in her bedroom for only a moment, when she heard the sound of rushing wind behind her. She turned around, finding a small, swirling cloud of luminous green smoke next to her window. Instantly knowing the source, she approached it, extending her fingers carefully in an attempt to touch it. As soon as she made contact with the smoke, it was suddenly swallowed by the air, gone instantly. Even though it was a late evening after working all day, she decided to trudge through her exhaustion and see him.

After making up an excuse about seeing "Bard" for her family, they let her go, but only on the condition that they could meet him soon.

"He sounds so sweet... I must become acquainted with my daughter's future husband!" Her mother squealed. Sigyn laughed uneasily.

It was dark on the way to the grove. Twilight shown through the sky, creating an eerie feeling in the air. It felt somehow off to Sigyn. Though she didn't know why, something in her surroundings made her uncomfortable.

She reached the grove sooner than she normally did, realizing she must have been walking faster than she thought she had. Upon finding their tree, she waited for him to show himself. At this point, she wasn't foolish enough or in the mood to do his wild goose chase game. This time, he was going to find her. 

To her surprise, she finally didn't have to wait for him. Only a few moments had gone by when he stepped out from behind a tree. Sigyn had to hold her breath, this was the first time she had seen him up close for weeks. After only catching quick glances from far distances, she could look at him without having to see through his disguise.

He had gotten less thin and regained the color to his face, looking more healthy than Sigyn had ever seen him. His hair was messier than before, most likely from working. His clothes were streaked with mud and what could possibly be ash. His boots were caked with dirt, fading from the midday sun. She could now see him in his normal state, instead of his weak, sick one. If Sigyn had been any more tired than she was, she would have possibly given up and accept her foolish feelings. He not only looked like an average townsfolk, he was one. Not threatening everyone or tearing them to shreds with fear, but helping people, doing his share, and earning a living. She chewed on her cheek, trying everything she could think of to distract herself from speaking words that she would regret. 

"I'm surprised you came here." He smirked. "I thought that you had wanted to shun me out of your life forever. Why did you come?" Sigyn was a little stunned at his question. 

_"He's right... Why did I come?"_

She rushed through her thoughts, trying to make up an answer.

"Well... Why did you call for me?" 

"I honestly was just attempting long distance magic. I hadn't done it in a while, so I just wanted to see if I could still do it. What exactly did you see?"

Sigyn started laughing. This was the only time she's ever been able to tell that he was lying. It was almost like he wasn't even trying. Loki's face fell.

"Was it really that bad? I was trying to make a tree appear.  
But..." He trailed off when Sigyn laughed harder, completely clueless to what she was so amused by. 

"What?" He half laughed. Sigyn forced herself to calm down, wiping tears from her eyes, hoping that they were from laughing.

"I saw a cloud of smoke." She said, catching her breath. Loki sighed

"Yes... That is magic in it's most basic form. I suppose I should practice more. Although it's hard to find time when you're surrounded with hundreds of people every day. Honestly, how do you do it? It was hard enough having to be around a few servants..." At the mention of his royalty, Sigyn piped up when she remembered the news.

"Did you hear about Lady Jane? She's had a girl! We have a new princess!" She chimed. "She was born a week ago. Her name is Belle. A Midgardian name, I believe." Loki clenched his fists, an almost pained expression on his face.

"Yes, I heard... I'm very... Happy for them." The words were forced, he made a half smile, which ended up turning into a cringe. Sigyn was put off his reaction, expecting a joke or sarcasm. It was obvious that now wasn't the time to talk about this, she decided to change the subject.

"Uh... So how are you? With, you know." She motioned her finger across her chest where Loki had been wounded. Clearly grateful to talk about something else, his face lifted.

"You're an incredible seamstress, I've hardly even noticed that I was injured at all. Then again, I wouldn't expect less from you." Sigyn, irritated that his flirting worked on her, knew it would be impossible to hide the redness of her face, so she attempted to not notice the burning on her cheeks, acting as if nothing was happening. By his brief look of smugness, she could tell she had failed.

"Well, if that's all you wanted, I'll be heading back home now." She had just started to turn around when she heard him speak.

"I lied. Magic wasn't the only reason I called for you to come."

"Well, you couldn't have been less obvious about that." She remarked, spinning around to face him. He didn't respond, he was reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small bag and threw it at Sigyn. She barely caught it, sneering at him for not warning her that he was going to attack her with something this heavy. She didn't receive an exasperated sigh or an insult, instead he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow, waiting for her to open it. Taken aback from his seriousness, she looked at the leather bag tied with string. By the small clinks that came from the bag when she moved it, Sigyn suddenly realized what he was doing.

"No." She said, handing it back to him. "I can't take your money. You've earned it. It's yours." 

"And how much of your money have you spent on me? I've seen how you live and experienced what you do. This should get you through the next year or so." Sigyn's eyes widened as she quickly opened the bag and gasped. It was filled to the top with gold. This wouldn't get her through the next year or so, this would get her and her family through the next year or so.

"Please tell me you didn't-"

"I didn't steal it. Magic has more advantages than you think. I can do three times the work of an ordinary person." Pride outlined Loki's words, bragging about how wonderful he is. Sigyn clenched her teeth as she tied the bag closed. 

"How about instead of giving me your money, you teach me how to do your precious magic instead?" As soon as Sigyn said it, she regretted it. She had let her idioticy slip through her mouth. Furiously re-opening the bag, she pretended to count the money, not wanting to see his reaction, and not wanting him to see her face, even though she knew he wouldn't be fooled. She tightly held her lips closed, not wanting anything else to escape from them. For what seemed like forever, Sigyn heard only the steady clinking of coins. She wanted to apologize, to say she was joking, to run, to do something. She couldn't. She couldn't move from her spot. Her words failed her. Embarrassment was practically written all over her, the silence carving them deeper into her flesh.

"Alright, When do you want to start?" 

She dropped the bag and the coins scattered across the ground.

"Wh-What?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes as he knelt on the ground and picked up the coins

" _I said_ , when do you want to start?"


	10. The Lesson

Next week they would meet at the grove, that was what they decided. Every week Loki would teach Sigyn what he knew.

"Of course, I've had a lifetime of experience. It's a long process, you have to gain strength gradually." He explained.

After refusing once again to take his money,  
Sigyn gave in and kept it, hoping she could make up an excuse for her family. Once she regretfully accepted, Loki disappeared into the trees, leaving Sigyn to the sound of birdsong and her quickened heartbeat. She left for home, trying her hardest to resist the impulse to look back. Alone, with her thoughts, she was once again filled to the brim with questions.

 _"Why is he being so kind to me? If what they say is true about him, this is literally the last thing he would do. Giving me money, teaching me magic simply because I asked, praising my abilities... And not killing or torturing me like the ruthless monster they make him out to be. I know perfectly well that he could just be tricking me to trust him, so why am I falling-"_ Sigyn shook her head furiously, refusing to even think of the sentence. It wouldn't happen. It couldn't happen. It shouldn't happen.

Ever

_____

Once again, Sigyn painfully lied to her family. Telling the story of how "Bard" got a handsome reward for helping one of the knights of Asgard, about how he wanted to help her less fortunate family. Of course, they were practically on their knees, begging to meet him. They rejoiced and celebrated for hours on end about not having to work for a year. Sigyn had to fake a smile for the millionth time, because when she saw her family's joy, she had to forcefully shove her feelings back down her throat.

_____

When the day of her first lesson arrived, she was unnerved, pondering if she really should learn magic. Magic makes you powerful, which can lead to wonderful or terrible things. The practice has been banned from commoners because of this. Too many people have tried to become in a higher position of power because their abilities had gotten to their heads. Although many had used it for good, too many people had gotten hurt from it. Because she saw magic corrupt the most innocent people she knew, Sigyn wasn't sure what she would do if she was able to do magic... She had no idea if she would use it for her own benefit or not.

Upon entering the grove, Sigyn found Loki standing next to the tree, staring at a small stone in his hand. 

"The first thing you need to know about magic..." He said, not looking up. "Is that everyone has a bit of it in them. They just need to learn how to use it and expand it's power. Magic requires exact precision. And with enough discipline and patience..." Suddenly, he threw the stone in the air. The exact moment the stone had reached it's height and had started falling, he snapped his fingers, and the stone exploded into a red flower. He caught it with a flourish that was definitely him showing off. 

"You can do almost anything you like." He leaned forward with a smug smile and handed her the flower. Sigyn took it shyly, recognizing the flower from her Midgardian studies in school... It was a rose. Thorns protruded from the stem, enhancing both it's beauty, and it's ability to harm you.

 _"How appropriate."_ She thought to herself, timidly feeling the velvet petals.

"Now then." She heard him say. Looking up from the rose, she remembered what she was really here for. She put the flower in her apron pocket, trying to forget about the gesture it had made.

"Shall we begin?"

Sigyn nodded, feeling butterflies in her stomach, hoping they were from nervousness.

He explained to her that the first step to doing magic, was to concentrate. Concentrate on finding it within her.

"The source is in two places, either your heart or your head. The way you find it, is if foreign magic comes in contact with it." He waved his hand, and it instantly glowed green. He extended his hand toward her, waiting for her to take hold of it. Sigyn hesitated, not knowing what would happen if she touched him. He gave her a "go on" look. She squeezed her eyes closed and grabbed his hand .

As soon as she wrapped her fingers around his, she felt as if she been hit by a boulder. A current of something almost electric flowed from her head to her chest and exploded throughout her entire being, throwing her to the ground and knocking the wind out of her. She gasped, feeling sparks run through her entire body. Loki dashed over, kneeled next to her, and lifted her head off of the ground.

"Sigyn! Are you hurt!? I had no idea something like that would happen! I'm so sorry, I-" 

"I feel it in my head and my heart." She whispered, trying to sit up on her own, but the current still flowed through her, sucking up her strength alarmingly quickly. She couldn't support her own weight. With her strength draining, she gave up and let him fully support her. Loki's face filled with concern and confusion as she grew colder.

"What? But the only person who's ever had that ability is... Me... And my mother." His eyes suddenly widened, glinting with fear.

"Sigyn, don't move." He said with an urgency that scared her. She tried to lay as still as she could, terrified of what could have made him react like that.

" _Don't. Move._ " He repeated, placing two fingers on her head. "Listen, you can't have two power sources. You're not nearly strong enough. My mother and I could because we're gods. I need to make one dormant, or you'll... It won't be pleasant" 

"What?!"

" _Don't. Move._ " He warned once more. She couldn't really move anyway, so it wasn't a problem staying still. She held her breath, trying not to let tears escape. The connection between her head and her heart continued to wipe away any strength she had, making breathing hard and causing her to be on the brink of fainting. She watched through half lidded eyes as Loki concentrated. Even through her blurred vision, she could see that his face was determined... Yet frightened. He, one of the most powerful people in Asgard, was scared. He wasn't faking it, it was real. He was genuinely afraid that something would happen to her. 

This, of course, didn't help. It only caused more panic to induce. She felt as if she were laying on ice, unable to gather herself to move at all. Her eyes closed and she prepared for the worst, waiting to implode into nothing, to stop breathing completely, for her lifeless hand to drop limp, for her family's faces when they heard of her alarmingly quick death, waiting for it to be over.

Instead, she felt as if everything went still. Her heart stopped pounding against her chest, gradually turning into a small flutter, and then stop forcing the life out of her completely. 

When Sigyn opened her eyes, she was still in Loki's arms. The overpowering current of force that went through her was gone. He stared at her, waiting fretfully to see if she was in pain, if she was alive.

With the small amount of energy she could muster, she shot her arms up around him. She held him tight and cried. Sobbing into his neck, she was relieved that it was over, that she was alive, that he had saved her. She suddenly realized that his arms were around her too, holding her tightly, as if he refused to let her almost die again. 

She couldn't do it anymore.

Sigyn was in love with the God of Mischief.

And she didn't care anymore.

Sigyn lifted her head enough to look at him. His expression spoke volumes. He looked at her like he had almost lost his own life, like he had just experienced true fear, like the thing he cared most about had nearly slipped out of his grasp.

"It's okay." She whispered, touching his cheek. She could barely raise her hand to make the gesture. She let her hand fall from exhaustion, completely void of energy. He suddenly pulled her close and kissed her.

It was a sweet, gentle kiss. The kind that was hesitant, yet soft. The kind that makes you shiver. The kind that lingered. The kind that leaves you in a daze. The kind that sparks a flame inside of you. Loki suddenly pulled away and looked at her sternly

" _Don't_ scare me like that again." He said, picking her up from the ground. She managed a half smile before passing out completely.


	11. The Recovering

The next thing Sigyn knew, she felt like she was being trampled by a herd of horses. Every time she took a breath, it was like needles exploded inside her. She forced her eyes open and found herself on a bed. A healer was reading a paper when he saw Sigyn wake up.

"Oh! You're awake. That's good." He put the paper down on a table next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Fantast-"Her voice shredded against her throat, causing her to cough violently. Each time she coughed, it literally felt like someone had punched her as hard as they could. She wheezed and made a high pitched whining sound.

"Oh dear. Hold on." The healer said as he poured a golden liquid from a pitcher on the table into a cup. Each individual muscle contracted whenever she moved anything, making her to cry out in pain. The cycle repeated over and over. Tears streamed down her face as she desperately tried to fight it, her feeble attempts only made it worse.

When he turned to her bed, the healer lifted Sigyn's head from the pillow as carefully as he could. Her neck felt like it snapped in half. She shrieked as her head was stabbed again and again with swords that were on fire. She felt the cup at her lips and forced herself through her agony to swallow it. The liquid spread through her body, creating a cooling sensation. The pain she had felt everywhere quickly felt less than half as bad as it did before. The healer lay Sigyn's head back on the pillow.

"Thank you." She gasped through the incredible relief. Because of the miniature torture she had just went through, she hadn't heard the sound of arguing. A persistent, and a furious voice were right outside the door.

"I'm sorry, but you can't see her right now."

"Why was she screaming!? What's going on?! I have a right to see her! I'm her father!" 

"Let them in." Sigyn said as loudly as she could without hurting, which was just barely a whisper. She could hear the sound of feet shuffling, followed by a loud, exasperated gasp.  
"Sigyn! What happened to you!?" Her mother ran up to the side of the bed and touched her face. Her skin felt like ice against her own. "You've lost practically all of the color to your face! Do you have any idea how worried we were when you didn't come home last night?!" Her father and Ragmore quickly followed. Judging by their reactions, Sigyn guessed that she didn’t look exactly like a goddess.

"Mother, I'm fi-." She winced mid sentence. It wasn't agonizing, but it was still painful. Her mother's expression became furious, but tears were brimming at her eyes. 

"Sigyn, you can't even talk!" Ragmore spoke, stomping to the foot of the bed. "You’re crying, you’re in so much pain! Who did this to you?!" He was clearly trying to seek someone to take his anger out on for her. Before she could answer, someone else ran in. It took a second before she could recognize him, but she realized it was Loki, wearing his disguise. She tried to lift her head to talk to him, but she couldn't even take it off the pillow before her strength gave out. Ragmore noticed this small movement. He quickly glanced between her and Loki, raising an eyebrow.

“Sigyn! Are you alright?” Came Loki's artificial voice. “I heard shouting from outside the hall and-”

"Who are you!?" Her father growled at him. Loki glared at him, obviously feeling trying to explain was the least important thing to do in the current situation

“Hasn’t she told you? Surely you’ve heard me about me.”

“Are you Bard then?” Ragmore demanded. He probably assumed that "Bard" had something to do with all of this, because he looked like he wanted to strangle him.

"Yes. You see, I had told Sigyn that we would meet where we usually did, at the river. We were walking along the bank, when she slipped and fell..." His face sobered and he cleared his throat. Sigyn wasn't sure if he was trying to look sad, or if he was remembering what had happened. Probably both.

"... She fell a considerable distance onto a rock. I thought she might have actually..." He paused again, guilt and pain behind his eyes. This time he was definitely remembering what happened. 

"But when I got to where she landed, she was still alive. I'm so sorry, I didn't take care of her like I should have." He flicked his eyes in her direction.

“Bard, it’s okay.” Sigyn cringed and squeezed her hand into a fist when she spoke quietly. “I shouldn’t have walked that close to the water. It’s not your fault that I fell.” She put as much emphasis on the last sentence as she could without sounding suspicious. He looked anywhere except her, trying his hardest not to make eye contact.

“It's a miracle she didn't have any wounds.” The healer intruded, picking up the paper and reading it again. “However, internally, she isn’t so good. It seems that her heart took a blunt force to it. The impact must have focused on her chest, because her heart is barely able to circulate blood on it's own.” Loki looked like he had been slapped. His eyes flickered green for a moment. Ragmore's glare could've murdered someone. Her mother cried and clung to her father, who just looked angry. 

“But we can fix it.” The healer continued, trying to calm things down. “Her heart will be weaker than it used to, but she’ll be fine.” 

“How long will it take?!” Loki and Ragmore asked at the same time. With the look Ragmore gave him, she was surprised he didn’t hiss. 

“A few days.” The healer stated. Relief spread across everyone's faces. Just as the air in the room had started to relax and the tension left everyone, Sigyn's heart suddenly pounded like a hammer against her chest, causing her to flinch and whimper. Everyone's eyes snapped back to her and anxiety swelled in the room again.

“I'm sorry, but she needs to rest now. I’m afraid you’ll need to leave.” The healer said quickly.

After a tearful goodbye from her mother, encouraging words from her father, and Ragmore's eyes throwing fiery darts at Loki, her family trudged out of the doorway. Loki lingered for few moments, obviously wanting to talk.

“Can we have a few more minutes… Alone?” he asked the healer. He rolled his eyes and sighed before he left. Loki's eyes followed him as he walked out of the room.

“I think your brother has already planned out how he's going to kill me.” he said, still facing the doorway.

"Oh, he's as harmless as a d-dove." She stuttered through twinges in her throat. "...He'll be alr-right." When Loki turned around, his face wasn't in disguise anymore, but it was pale. Quietly, he walked next to her bed and leaned on the table.

"Sigyn, I am so... So sorry." He whispered, hanging his head. "I heard you in pain from the hall and... Damn it, what have I done to you?!" He turned towards her, horror etched into face.

"You've done what I've asked, that's what." Her voice cracked. "It was impossible to tell that would have happened. You saved my life. You brought me here. You did everything you could. That's what you've done." Loki tried to smile at her excuse for him.

"I don't know, I probably could have made the healer turn blue if I wanted to." He mumbled while brushing a lock of her hair on her forehead to the side. She smiled sheepishly, trying not to notice the feeling of glass shattering in her chest. She must not have hid it very well, because Loki’s expression turned hostile too quickly to be safe. He stormed across the room, knocking over a vase on a shelf and letting it shatter on the floor. Once he got outside of the doorway, he paused, like he was pondering if he should tell her something. After a moment of silence, he slammed the door shut behind him without speaking a word.

This was the first time Sigyn saw Loki's legitimate anger.

And it scared her.

______

She didn't see him for the rest of the time she recovered. Her family, however, basically lived in her room. Her mother fussed over her constantly, forcing her to eat and sleep no matter how much she refused. Her father always followed her, trying to tell her to calm down and let the healers take care of Sigyn. This, of course, only made her more upset.

Ragmore was the one who talked to her when she was feeling too ill to speak. He told her stories about amusing things that happened while he worked in the village. About people who got caught slacking off and tried to make up ridiculous excuses for it. About children who tried to steal sweets from markets and were confronted while they were feeding them to stray dogs. About when a horse that was passing through got spooked by a bird screeching in it's ear, accidentally dragged it's rider along the ground.

Sigyn had always loved her brother, looking to him as her role model. When she was young, she would copy every single movement he made. Every muscle he flexed, every step he took, wanting to be just as incredible as she thought he was. He'd always pull on her hair until she cried in response to her mimicking. She always stood farther away from him before doing it again after that.

Ragmore was fiercely protective of his younger sister, making sure she always got what she needed, dashing to her side whenever she called, and making sure no one would hurt her. It was his duty to make fun of her, not the other children at school. If someone had accidentally walked into her, the whole village would soon hear about the fight that happened in town square that day.

Now, while their parents were getting clothes for Sigyn at their house, he sat on a stool next to her bed, whittling something out of wood. He refused to tell Sigyn what it was. He said it was a gift.

"Let's just say, it will probably look a lot like I did when I had caught that fox." He said as he rubbed the scars from small, sharp teeth on his hand.

"I'd like to see you try and make something that horrid looking." She could talk without needing to whisper now. Almost all of her pain was gone, leaving her with only a headache and restlessness. 

Ragmore smirked at her comment, blowing a few stray brown hairs out of his eyes. While Sigyn had inherited their mother's ink black hair and strong sense of curiosity, he had taken the features of their father. With his large build, square jaw, and dashing smile, women regularly followed behind him in flocks. They giggled and pushed each other around until one of them had gathered enough courage to talk to him. Every time, no matter how beautiful they were, he politely declined. 

Ragmore has never, in his entire life, been interested in a relationship. He was too busy practicing the different spear techniques he had learned. He's had a strange obsession with spears ever since he had first held one as a youth. He was determined to follow his dream of becoming one of the knights of Asgard, protecting their realm and combating enemies for the sake of his people. 

"Sigyn, did you really fall onto a rock?" He asked, seemingly out of nowhere. While she did wonder why Loki never came back to see her, she tried to keep her mind off of him as much as she could, focusing on getting better as quickly as possible. At the mention of him out loud, she bit her tounge, making sure that she didn't say something that would give anything away.

"What? Why wouldn't I have?" She asked, giving him a questioning look. He shrugged.

"I just feel like Bard isn't everything he says he is. A sudden reward that could feed a family of four for a year? It's highly unlikely something like that would actually happen. There was also when you came home with blood all over you... I also noticed some of my clothes were missing the next morning. You always come home looking like you're hiding something after you see him. Are you sure there's nothing about him you want to tell me? I can help you with anything... Anything."

Sigyn didn't have to fake the shock she felt.

"Do you think he's hurting me?"

"Not necessarily, I'm just trying to make sure. You've never looked injured after you've seen him until now. But you look like you're still in pain..." Sigyn actually felt offended.

"You think he's _violating_ me!?!" 

He looked up from his whittling to look her in the eye. He was serious, he wanted to know if she was being hurt.

"He has never, not once, hurt me in any way. Believe me, if I wanted your help, I'd ask for it. I always have, and it's defiantly had it's benefits, but Ragmore, I don't need it. Besides, you're just looking for a reason to hurt him, aren't you?" He sighed, lowering his eyes back to the wood.

"Everyone has warned me over and over that just because you believe it, doesn't mean it's true. Love is blind, Sigyn. Just be cautious." Before she could make more of an argument, a healer walked into the room.

"Good news!" She beamed. "Everything has healed, you can go back home tonight! Your mother and father are coming to bring you back this very moment." She smiled brightly once more before walking back out the door.

"Finally." Ragmore said, standing and stretching. "I thought that I was going to rot and die in here. I'll meet them to make sure mother doesn't accidentally injure you again from rushing you home." His tone suggested differently. Sigyn was glad that he wanted an excuse to leave though, because his words echoed in her head, leaving her feeling worse than she had been yesterday morning, when she felt like she was drowning.


	12. The Attack

Her mother, did in fact, almost injure her. She nearly flung herself onto Sigyn upon entering the room, when she remembered that she was hurt. She recoiled a bit, then affectionately kissed her forehead, congratulating her on getting better. Her father helped her stand up from her bed. This was the first time she had supported her own weight in days, thus resulting in a very wobbly, slow, and tedious walk home.

_____________

After the few days it took to regain her full strength, she was never still. She refused to stop moving after being idle for so long. It would drive her insane.

When she wasn't working, she was walking around the town, looking for things to do. At least, that's what she told herself. Lying to herself was becoming a regular thing. Stubbornly reminding herself over and over again that the only reason she was circling the entire village at least three times a day was because she was looking for ways she could help people and make herself useful. Not because she was looking for ways that she could find people. She reminded herself that what she felt that day wasn't love. She had just gone under severe trauma, and it messed with her thoughts.

Still... Loki was the one who kissed her. Not the other way around.

Or maybe she hallucinated that.

One day, she was walking back to her home after helping a young mother look after her children. She had repeated this cycle of pushing her thoughts down and looking around every corner of the village for a week or two, and she was giving up hope. Not that she was hoping for anything specific to happen, that is.

Even though the light in the sky had almost completely faded, children ran through the streets, playing with wooden swords and tackling each other. Street merchants were still advertising their wares, shouting to the passing crowd. Everyone was so cheerful, so happy. They didn't have a looming secret hanging over their heads. They didn't have their emotions in a constant battle, fighting for dominance. 

She sighed, continuing down her path back to her home. She decided to take a less populated route so that she could be alone. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. When Sigyn had turned the corner to her detour, she didn't see anybody. The only sound she heard was owls hooting in the distance. Still having absent thoughts, she wondered down the path, staring at the ground. Before she even heard someone coming, she almost bumped into someone standing directly in front of her.

"Oh, excuse me." She mumbled quietly, not bothering to look up. She moved to the side and started to walk forward, when an arm blocked her path. She snapped out of her depressed daze and looked up at the person not letting her pass. A man who she had never seen before stood in front of her.

"Well, hello there. How long have you been wondering around here? I don't think I remember seeing anyone as beautiful as you recently." He was smiling, but something behind the smile scared her.

"... I'm sorry, I-I need to go." She said quickly. She had barely taken a step when the man suddenly grabbed her tightly and put his hand on her mouth. Sigyn let out a muffled scream, trying to squirm out of his grasp, but she couldn't move at all beneath his strong arms. 

"Shh. It's okay." He whispered as he dragged her around the corner of an ally. "I just need to borrow you for a minute, okay?" He slid one of the sleeves off of her shoulder, stroking her skin. Sigyn sobbed into his hand. She couldn't do anything. She was helpless in his death grip, his hot breath against her ear. She gave up trying, exhausted from trying to escape. The man must have noticed, because he held her tighter. She almost couldn't breath. Accepting her fate, she went limp, closing her eyes, trying not to feel anything. But waves of panic still rushed over her. She cried quietly, too terrified to scream anymore. The man had just started to lift up her skirt, when he suddenly made a grunting noise and fell to the ground, releasing her from his grasp. She jumped back and cried out in surprise. The man was still and silent where he lay. 

She looked up from the ground to see Loki, his hands were fisted, teeth clenched, breathing heavily, and fury boiling over in his eyes. 

Stunned, as this is the first time she had seen him in weeks, she stuttered, attempting to make words form in her mouth.

"Relax, I didn't kill him." He growled, turning around and starting to walk away.

"Wait!" She finally sputtered out. He didn't stop walking. She sprinted up in front of him, forcing him to stop. He looked down at her, rage still filled his expression. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his hand constantly twitching to one of the daggers in his belt. He was trying as hard as he could not to go back and actually kill him. Though she was still half crying, she reached out her own trembling hand and placed it on his. Giving him an "It's okay." Look. Her shaky breath and tear stained face obviously didn't help. He clenched his teeth harder and walked around her, going faster this time.

"Why are you avoiding me?!" She cried out, accidentally letting out a sob.

"I'm not avoiding _you_ , I'm avoiding _him_ before I change my mind and _gouge his eyes out!_ " He shouted, turning around and walking back to her. 

"... Please don't." she whispered. "No more violence. No more anger... Please." She started crying into her hands. She hadn't had a single break from trials ever since she met him. Why does trouble always seem to follow him?

His face softened as he sighed, defeated. Sigyn felt his fingers lift her head to face him. He had a small smile on his face. This was all Sigyn needed to stop crying.

They suddenly heard movement from where the man had collapsed. Loki's eyes snapped to his direction. Without looking away, he held out his hand toward her. She took it, and they ran toward the grove.


	13. The Confession

It was quiet when they reached their tree. Normally sounds of wildlife swelled in the air. But tonight there was silence, followed by occasional rustle of leaves around them. It was strange, almost as if nature itself knew something was off.

When Sigyn caught her breath from sprinting so far, Loki checked to see if they were followed. As soon as he turned around, she started pelting him with questions.

"Why have you been staying away from me for weeks!?" Why did you disappear for so long!? Why were you suddenly there when I was attacked?! Why did you leave?!" 

"Calm down! I was just-"

"No. Don't tell me to calm down. Ever since I met you I've been in the dark about everything happening around me. I still don't know why you were wounded, I don't know why you stayed in the forest for so long when you could have easily lived in the village sooner than you had, I don't know why you left me after I had just-" she clamped her mouth shut when she realized that she was yelling at him as if he was supposed to always be around her. She bit her cheek, trying to swallow her words. 

_"Yes, I'll admit. I did miss him a bit. But that doesn't mean I suddenly own him or have the right to command him. He's still royalty. And a fugitive. I wonder how many times I’m going to remind myself about that before I finally accept it"_

After she went quiet, Loki tried to explain himself the best he could.

"I was wounded because I was found. I was on my way to see you, but someone spotted me and tried to turn me in..." He paused, looking guilty and sighing. "Yes, I attacked him. But not before he slashed me with his sword. I was disoriented from living in the grove so long… He caught me off guard." 

Sigyn almost felt betrayed. He had hurt another person. At least it was self defence this time, but he probably didn’t go easy on him. She honestly wasn’t sure if he would have permanently injured him or not. Still... His story didn't rest well with her. It didn't feel right. Even disoriented, it's not easy to take down one of the most powerful people in Asgard.

Despite her doubts, she didn't want to dwell on it. She was still shaken from being assaulted. She slowly sat on the ground, her heart pounding against her chest from the terror she had endured. She felt faint from her weakened heart as her shoulders shook from her tears. She felt Loki sit next to her. He didn't say anything, he just placed his hand on top of hers and let her cry. She was enormously grateful for this. The last thing she needed at the moment was someone telling her that everything was okay. And he knew that everything wasn't okay. 

She wasn't sure how long she cried, but when she had finally run out of tears, she looked up to find Loki hadn't moved at all. He had remained still the whole time, looking in the same direction toward the village, keeping the same angered expression. Sigyn recognized the darkness behind his eyes when he was fighting his violent impulses. She wrapped her fingers around his hand. His face went blank when he looked back in her direction.

"Thank you for staying with me." She said quietly. He turned back to the village in response, his grip tightened slightly. She could tell he didn't do it consciously. 

"Please... Don't tell anyone about this." She whispered. 

"I won't." He said, not looking away. He meant it, but fury still radiated from his voice. 

"Why didn't I see you for so long?" She asked, trying to divert his attention. Sigyn actually saw him flinch when he heard her. When he looked toward her again, his eyes were full of regret, almost brooding. For what felt like a long time, he struggled to find what to say.

"... Because I was afraid. I was afraid I would hurt you again. I felt like if I saw you, it would be a reminder that I had almost destroyed something so innocent and fragile as you. A reminder of all of the innocent lives I’ve taken. I stayed away because I was a coward and didn't want to face what I had done. I was staying in the empty part of the village so that I could be alone. Only, tonight you..." He stopped. His hand twitched toward one of his knives again. 

She hugged him. She felt tension leave him at her touch. The immediate comfort she felt as he embraced her made all of her fear disappear

"I'm safe now, okay?” She insisted. “You don't need to worry anymore." 

“I love you, Sigyn.” 

She immediately reached up and kissed him. Every doubt she’d ever had about him deceiving her evaporated. She herself realised, that she did indeed love him too.

As she deepened the kiss, every little bit of affection she had ever held back from him finally poured out of her. All of the pain she’d been feeling moments before was gone. She let everything go, not caring anymore if it was wrong or not.


	14. The Necklace

Sigyn arrived to her house in the middle of the night. Remembering that she said she would be back by sunset, she gently put her hand on the handle of the door, praying that her mother didn't stay up and wait for her, slowly, she opened it.

"Sigyn! Where have you been?! We were about to start looking for you! You've been gone for hours longer than you said you'd be back! What happened to you?!" 

Her mother not only stayed up, but she had waited by the door. Sigyn felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Normally, she could just make something up quickly, but from everything that had happened, she could barely think straight, let alone come up with lie. She opened her mouth, searching for something, anything to say. Anything except what actually happened. Just then, Sigyn's father came from the other room. He had heard the yelling and came to the door to see what was wrong. When he saw what was happening, he sighed and put a hand around her mother's shoulders reassuringly.

"It's alright! Look, she's back and completely unharmed! Honestly, you act like she's still a child."

"But she's barely an adult! She doesn't know everything yet! Why, when I was her age..."

She went on the usual spiel about every reason why Sigyn should be more careful because of her injury. Sigyn stood in her place until they were deep enough into the argument so she could slip into her bedroom without them noticing.

She closed the door to her bedroom behind her, falling back onto it. Physically and emotionally exhausted, she was still trying to process everything that had just happened. While she was thinking, she noticed the sleeves of her dress were a little loose. Feeling the back of it, she realized that she had forgotten to re-tie the laces. She quickly tied the laces back together, feeling her cheeks burn.

Moving over to her mirror, she tried to stop her heart from racing so fast. She still couldn't believe that she was actually in love with someone. Yes, she knew it would happen someday. But not with the Prince of Asgard. She also was open to the possibility that they would love her in return... But definitely not the Prince of Asgard.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was messy and a twig stuck out of it. As she took it out, pangs of panic came back to her when she saw a red mark on her cheek from when the man had held her mouth shut. 

She had made Loki swear that he wouldn't hurt the man who attacked her. It took some convincing, but he finally gave in and promised to stay away from him, on the agreement that when she walked through empty parts of the village, he had to walk with her. 

While in her high-strung state, she didn't expect anyone to be knocking on her door this late. When someone rapped on the wood, she jumped and squeaked.

"Sigyn! Are you alright?" Came Ragmore's voice from outside of her door.

"Yes. You just surprised me." She said as she quickly brushed her hair out. "Come in." He slowly opened the door to her bedroom.

"You're back." He said as he walked quietly into the room. She didn't answer, still trying to calm down. She was about to go and lay down on her bed, when she noticed that he was holding something. When she eyed it, Ragmore opened up his hand to her, revealing a wooden flower on a ribbon. Sigyn smiled wide at his woodwork.

"So, this is what you've been working on?" She asked as he tied it around her neck. She picked it up and looked at it. The petals were so intricate, they almost looked real. They bent and twisted, as if they were blowing in a gentle wind. He had polished it to the point where she could see her reflection in it. A little shocked at his newfound workmanship skills, she admired it for a moment.

"It's... Beautiful." She breathed. He seemed almost relieved. 

"What, you didn't think so?" She asked, placing it back down on her neck.

"I just wasn't sure if you would like it." He shrugged. "I'm glad you do."

"I love it!" She exclaimed. "Thank you so much for making it for me." He waved it off, but he was smiling. When he looked back at her face, his grin disappeared.

"Have you been crying?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Sigyn glanced in the mirror only to find that her eyes were red. By now, she had taken too long of a pause to lie.

"... Yes." She muttered. Ragmore gave her an "Do you want to talk about it?" look. In response, she kneeled next to her fireplace and started a fire. He sighed.

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything... Or just want to talk." He said, closing the door behind him.

Sigyn almost burned herself from the fire as she felt yet more tears rim at her eyes. Ragmore had always been there for her, ready to risk his life to save his little sister. He constantly checked on her, asking if she ever needed anything. Every once in a while, when she was upset about something, he would talk to her for hours about anything and everything. They always ended up roaring with laughter and Sigyn would have forgotten whatever she was sad about in the first place.

Now, she fell onto her bed. Wanting more than anything to go into his room and tell him everything. But she couldn't. Not this time.

\--

Sigyn woke up screaming from a nightmare. Again. Since she was attacked, she re-lived the experience every night, each time more vivid than the last. Frantically looking around her bedroom, she realized it was just a dream. She breathed deeply, trying to relax. But, just like all of the other days, she couldn't. Sighing, she got dressed as quickly as possible and tried to run out of the door before anyone could see her.

"Sigyn, that's the fourth day in a row. Are you alright?" Her father's gentle voice stopped her from walking any further. She cringed before turning around and shrugging.

“I don’t know why I’ve been having nightmares lately. It’s all really strange things, too. Yesterday, I dreamed that Mother had snakes coming out of her mouth. That one really scared me.”

“It’s not that much different from how she usually is.” He joked. She genuinely laughed. Her father made a small grin before becoming serious again.

“Sigyn, you can tell me anything. You know that right?” She stopped laughing and forced herself to give him a kind smile. 

“Of course, father.” She said, kissing his cheek. “I’ll be back before dinner, okay?” He nodded, gesturing for her to go out of the door.

She closed the door behind her, gritting her teeth. She was so tired of lying.


	15. The Reassurance

When Sigyn had woken up in her frighten state for the fourth time in a row, she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't care if she would get in trouble for staying out late again. She needed to see him. She would practically implode if she didn't.

After she left her house, she started running around the village frantically, asking everyone if they knew where "Bard" was. After an excruciating long time of people shrugging and shaking their heads, her fear clutched at her throat, making it harder to breath with every step she took. She dashed around the fields, glancing at workers faces, trying to find his disguised face among an ocean of men and women.

She stopped to catch her breath when she reached the farms.

_"I can't find him anywhere... What if he's been captured?! He's made it this long... He should still be here. Did he run away again? No. Not after that night. He definitely wouldn't. What if he's at the grove? He might be. I should go find out."_

When she could breath regularly again, she slowly started to became aware of her surroundings. She realized that she was out in the open. Alone. 

Flashbacks of the panic Sigyn felt when she was attacked swelled within her, making her feel heavier by the second. Her hand shot her flower charm around her neck, clutching the smooth surface underneath her fingers. It reminded her of the kindness and bravery her brother would always shelter her with. She had always wanted to have as much of a good heart and courage as him. 

She envisioned herself as a warrior against her own fright. Slashing swords and shooting arrows at everything that weighed her down, like Ragmore would. She calmed down a little, trying to inhale courage and exhale doubt and paranoia.

A horse suddenly whinnied in the stables, followed by someone shushing it harshly. Sigyn's head snapped towards the sound, recognizing it instantly. She bolted to the doorway, peering inside when she reached it. He was there, trying to put reins on a stubborn horse. 

Her heart leaped at the sight of him, wishing more than ever that she could jump into his arms and never leave them. But she forced herself to stay quiet in case someone was near.

 _"Loki!"_ She hissed. His head whipped up from the reigns, expression brightening when he spotted her. Sigyn only returned the brightness halfway. Yes, she was overjoyed to see him, but she was full of anxiety and still felt jumpy and exposed. She gestured for him to come and talk to her. While he walked towards her, he noticed how uneased and fidgety she looked.

"What is it? Is everything alright?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, concerned.

"Listen..." Sigyn said tightly. She breathed in a shaky breath, trying to figure out how to ask this. He looked at her expectantly. Sighing, she pushed the words out of her mouth.

"I wanted to ask you if we could continue our lessons-"

"No." He interrupted, taking his hand off of her.

"But-" 

_"No."_

"But what if-" 

"Sigyn, I'm _no_ t teaching you anymore!" He shouted. When she recoiled a bit, Loki realized he yelled at her. Regret crossed over him.

"Sorry." He muttered. "It's just that there's... A huge chance that I could accidentally reawaken your second power source. If that happens, you will die. I..." He paused, struggling to speak. "...That can't happen. Not again. _I can't lose you._ " Desperation rang deep in his voice, making Sigyn realize that she was literally the only person he had right now. His family and friends are either dead, or think that he's dead. 

"Okay. We won't." she reassured. A clear sense of relief came upon him, thankful for her understanding.

"But... I haven't been able to sleep without having terrifying nightmares for days now. I'm constantly on edge, expecting someone to leap out of the shadows at me. I can't rest at all! I need some sense of security. I wanted to learn magic so that I... I just want to feel safe again."

Something suddenly flashed across his face at her words. It was so brief that if she hasn't been watching as closely as she was, she would have missed it. 

Fear. It was paralyzing fear that he accidentally let slip. His eyes were illuminated with memories flashing through them, terror and horror brimming over. But it left just as soon as it came and was replaced by a very convincing smile of comfort.

"Sigyn, don't worry. I will make sure you're always safe. Here." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and waved his hand over it. It glowed green for a bit, and then he handed it to Sigyn.

"If you're ever in any kind of trouble, tear this apart. I'll be there within seconds." 

As Sigyn felt the paper's sleek surface, she almost immediately felt peace again. It was as if he had put a calming spell on it. Maybe he did.

"Thank you." She smiled gratefully at Loki. "But... Is there something wrong?"

"No. Why?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged.

"I just thought you looked worried for a moment, that's all." 

"Everything is fine. I promise." He said, taking her hand. Sincerity lined his words at Sigyn, But underneath it all, it sounded like he was trying to convince himself too.

"Bard! Are you done in there yet?" Asked a gruff voice from outside, interrupting their stare of adoration. Loki rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Almost!" He called out. He glanced towards the doorway for her to leave before they were caught. Sigyn hugged him for a moment, absorbing his affection he radiated at her touch. She let go of him and ran out of the door, clutching tight to the paper he had given her.


	16. The Truth

"Sigyn! Will you come here please? Someone's here to see you." 

When Sigyn heard her father's voice from the other room, she let her hairbrush fall to the floor, the purple glow around it fading away when it impacted. She sighed. This was the fourth time that day she had been interrupted. She had been trying to practice as much as she could, but she constantly struggled to even attempt doing it right without having someone to teach her. Annoyed, she trudged out of her room, not in the mood for visitors.

When she saw her father standing next to the slightly ajar front door, she gave him a "Well, who is it?" Look. He opened the door wider to reveal a disguised Loki standing outside. 

Her heart fluttered when she saw his falsely blue eyes while her mouth twisted into a wide smile, welcoming his presence. He didn't return the warmness. He simply shuffled anxiously.

"He said it was urgent. I know you haven't seen each other in a couple of days, but I do hope everything is alright. If you need anything from me-" 

"Yes, yes, father. I know. I promise I'll come to you if I need help." She interrupted, hugging him. 

"Well, you're suddenly in a good mood." He grumbled. "Go on, I won't keep you any longer." 

She gave her father a thankful nod as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. 

Before she could even turn around and look at him, Loki grabbed her hand and quickly ran around to the back of their house, dragging her behind. 

"Wait!" She cried. "What are you-"

He stopped suddenly, making her almost trip. He turned around and grabbed her arms, his face back to its original form, looking panicked.

"Sigyn, listen to me." He whispered quickly. "I'm going to tell you everything, but I need you to stay calm. I don't want to attract attention."

She was immediately hit hard with fear. For so long, she'd been almost begging to know what had really happened and what he'd been doing. But now she was caught unprepared, suddenly not ready to know. But before she had the chance to object, he spoke.

"Sigyn... I would understand if you wanted to abandon me after I say all of this. It would be perfectly reasonable. But I need to tell you so that I can keep you safe."

"What? But why would-"

"I don't have much time. Just..." He breathed deeply. "Just listen, okay?"

Sigyn nodded, frightened.

"I suppose I should start at my first mistake. I was broken. I could hardly think clearly. I honestly thought that I was doing the right thing for everyone by obliterating Jotunheim from the nine realms. I was foolish. When I realized I had done wrong, I... I tried... To kill myself."

" _You tried to-_ "

He shushed her, making her stop yelling. He looked around for a moment, making sure no one heard. When he didn't see anyone, he continued.

"Yes. But just my luck, instead of falling through darkness like I had wanted to, I landed in... An unknown realm. It might have not even been a realm, I still don't know. But the inhabitants of that world, the Chitauri, found me. 

"Their leader knew I was powerful. They knew that they could use me to their advantage. He offered me riches and anything I desired... But I didn't want anything. I honestly just wanted to die. After I had refused their offer, they captured me. They... Tortured me." 

Sigyn only had time to widen her eyes before he shushed her again, sighing when he realized that he obviously shouldn't have said that.

"... They trained me with their ways. They molded me into the exact shape they needed to get what they wanted. They forced me to go to Midgard and retrieve the Tesseract. Yes, I... I let all of the power I had go to my head. I was already beaten and exhausted, and suddenly having billions under my command and millions cowering at my feet... I got carried away. I killed more than I had originally needed to. I terrorized and pillaged..."

Sigyn started to feel sick. She was practically getting slapped over and over again with the crumbling false realities she'd been lead to believe. Hearing the truth suddenly slam into her all at once was hard to handle. But he wasn't even anywhere near finished with his story. He'd been through more than she had ever been through in her entire life within such a short time. She felt a sickening wave of nausea pass over her as she put a hand to her mouth and cringed.

"Sigyn? What's wrong? Look, I can just leave now if you want me too. I'd understand-"

"No! I'm fine." She insisted, straightening back up.

He looked doubtful, but continued to rush through his explanation.

"I was stopped by my brother. He took me back to Asgard and I was imprisoned. Eventually, Thor let me help him on his quest to stop Malekith. While I helped however I could, I eventually found an opportunity to fake my death. I needed to come back here without going back into prison. Because..."

He paused, looking around for anyone in the area. When he didn't see anyone, he gripped Sigyn tighter, as if in a protective way.

"The whole time I was in prison I was haunted with the threat that the Chitauri had given me. They said that if i failed, they would find me. They said that they would destroy me... and all of my people. And... I obviously failed."

Sigyn held her breath. 

"Loki... Does that mean..."

"Yes. I'm afraid it does. I needed to find a way to defend Asgard. That's why I captured Odin. I knew that if I tried to tell him, he would have me executed before I could speak. I needed to let him know without exposing my cover, so I hid him from everyone while I posed as king. That's when you found me. It had only been seconds after I captured him.

"I hid him in the grove. Which is why I only stayed in there and didn't live with the villagers. I needed to make sure he didn't escape and tell everyone I was alive. Every day, I tried to convince him to help me against the Chitauri. But he always refused. He was convinced I was lying to regain my honor and my place as prince of Asgard. One day, I had just been through with trying to make him help me, when a scout of the Chitauri found us. This one was much more powerful than the ones who attacked Midgard. It had more skill. It was faster, stronger. Odin tried to fight it... But ever since Frigga died... He'd been nothing but full of apathy. He hardly put up a fight before the scout killed him. It went for me next. It injured me before I could kill it, which is why I came out of the grove so wounded.

"The point is, you're in danger. We're all in danger. Before it died, I made the scout tell me when they were coming. I've been trying to find a way to stop them ever since I returned from Midgard. There's nothing I've able to do. They're coming Sigyn. They're coming today. We're just going to have to fight them. But I need to hide you before they come. We need to go now."

He pulled her into a sprint towards the grove, not letting her having any time to process anything, or think anything through. Sigyn's head went numb, still trying to understand what was happening. She lost track of where they were.

 _"Odin's dead. We're going to be attacked. No one knows it's going to happen. We're doomed."_ Were what Sigyn's thoughts kept repeating as her heart thudded like fists against her chest.

Her hand absentmindedly went to her necklace, letting the courage she kept stored within the wood spread through her fingertips and into her mind.

When Sigyn was able to snap out of it, she realized they were already halfway there. Her fingers clutched the flower around her neck as she remembered her family.

"Wait!" She yanked her arm out of his vice grip, making him stop in his tracks.

"What about my family? I can't just leave them with no warning! My brother might be able to keep them safe, but they can't just sit there only to be attacked by surprise! They'll be gone in seconds!" 

Loki made a frustrated sound, annoyed at this new setback.

"I'll warn them after you're safe, okay? Just-"

He suddenly went quiet, staring at a spot behind her. 

"What?" She asked, starting to turn around. 

He quickly snatched her out of the way with one arm and flung one of his daggers to the spot he was looking at with the other. Sigyn heard a shriek, followed by a thud as Loki shielded her with his body. when everything went quiet, he turned back around to see if it was dead. Sigyn finally saw it, a knife was in it's head while it twitched on the ground. 

Another awful wave of nausea made her head spin, making her lose her balance. He gripped her tighter, keeping her from falling.

"They're here sooner than I thought. We need to go! Come on!" 

He yanked his dagger out of the creature, picked Sigyn up off her feet, and ran the rest of the way to the grove. 

She was frozen in her place. The image of the crude, monstrous being lying on the ground was burned into her head. The smell of the unknown fluids that spurted out of it's stab wound still wafted in the air, making her lose her sense of time.

In what felt like mere seconds, she felt herself being gently placed down at the foot of their tree. Loki closed his eyes and put his hands out in front of him. As he did, the air around Sigyn shimmered green for a moment before becoming still again.

"Now only I can see where you are now. I'll go and warn your family. But you need to stay here. Don't move from this spot no matter what. Do you have the paper I gave you?" 

Sigyn nodded slowly, trying to breath through her overwhelming nausea.

"Good. Use it if you ever need me. I'll come back and get you when it's safe for us to get away from here. Do not move from that spot. I'll be back as soon as I can." 

He started running back towards the village.  
"Loki! Wait! I can help!"

He didn't stop.

"Loki!"


	17. The Discovery

Sigyn groaned in frustration as she fell back onto the ground and put her face into her hands. 

_"I can't believe this. He's tried to commit suicide. He was tortured. And he's just now telling me? It takes a lot to hurt him, I know... What did they do to him!? What if they torture my family?! He just expects me to sit here while I wait for everyone I know to die?_

_"He said they were more powerful than before. And only one of them was enough to almost kill him. He could die. My family could die. The whole city could die and I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs. How long will I have to hear the screams of children running from those monsters before he comes back? If he comes back... I need to do something. Anything. I could help healers with injured people. I just need to-"_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping. Sigyn's breath caught in her throat. She listened, waiting for the sound of an animal, a voice, something that wasn't one of them. Instead, she was greeted by an eerie chirping sound behind the her. She slowly looked around the tree, praying it wasn't what she thought it was.

It was a Chitauri. It's features were almost insect-like. Scales covered it's surface. It's movements were erratic, unbalanced. An unidentifiable weapon was in it's hands. Sigyn knew, that whatever it was, a single blow from the spear-looking weapon would be completely fatal.

It continued to walk through the grove. Her eyes were glued to the unknown entity as it made it's way out of the clusters of trees toward the village. It was only steps away from the edge, when it stopped mid-stride. It made sniffing motions with it's head, emitting a low buzzing sound. Sigyn's heart beat so loud, she was surprised it didn't hear it. 

The creature's head turned towards her. She turned back around the tree and scrambled into a fetal position, trying her hardest not to scream. The crunching of sticks underneath it's feet grew closer. 

_"This thing has killed. It's tortured. It's an absolutely mindless beast. This thing tortured Loki. This **thing** almost killed him."_

It was on the other side of the tree now.

 _"And now it's about to kill me... And my family."_

As soon as that thought hit, it was like a bolt of lightning shot through her. Anger suddenly pumped through her veins, making her bolt upright. She stood up, growling.

_"It's a killing machine."_

She trudged forward, watching the air around her ripple green as she left Loki's area of protection. 

_"It does nothing but cause pain and misery."_

"Hey!" She shouted at it. The thing made a sound that was a half chirp, half laugh as it saw Sigyn become suddenly visible. One of it's fingers pushed a button on it's weapon, causing it to light up.

_"No more hiding."_

She sprinted towards it, not letting it have time to react.

_"No more fear."_

She surged all of the magic she could muster to her fist. Purple engulfed it like fire.

_"No. More."_

She threw her fist into it's face as hard as her fury would let her. It pounded onto the ground so hard that it made a dent in the earth. She threw it's weapon out of it's reach while it tried to stand back up. Making her foot burst into a purple glow, she kicked it's face back into the ground, causing leaves to fly in the air. She thrust her foot down as hard as she could into it's throat.

" _You. Evil. **Bastard!**_ " She screamed with every time she stomped on it's neck. Everything around her shook whenever her foot met the forest floor. Unable to reach for it's weapon, the thing shrieked, flailing it's arms in a pathetic attempt to escape.

Leaves rained down around her while she continued to tear it apart. She ground her heel into it's face until it stopped squirming. Sigyn breathed heavily, glaring at the now dead monster. 

She suddenly had a crippling wave of vertigo pass over her, making her stumble and hold her head. Everything turned into a deep haze as the world shifted and she fell on her hands and knees, her thoughts slowing down to a crawl.

_"What's... going on? I was... Feeling perfectly fine... Just over... An hour ago... Now I'm trying my hardest... To stay... Upright and stop myself... From vomiting... I can't possibly... Get sick this quickly..."_

Shouts coming from the village made Sigyn find her way back into reality. Her eyes came back into focus on the lifeless Chitauri.

"Did... Did I do that?" She asked out loud.

It was bent into an unnatural shape. The ground around it had indentations from being shoved down so hard. As Sigyn started to stand back up, she saw that green liquid was spattered on her foot and on the bottom of her dress. She looked down at her hand in amazement, it was still tinted purple. 

Yes, despite Loki's warning of how dangerous it was, she'd been practicing magic. She'd discovered how to do it one day when she had almost dropped her necklace from Ragmore. It stopped just before it hit the floor, a spark of purple emitting from it. She had stared at it in shock, watching it float in midair. 

Ever since, she's only been able to make things levitate. No matter how hard she tried, she could hardly do anything. But now she realized why she was suddenly able to be so powerful.

The first time she'd ever used her magic, she was panicking. She cherished that necklace like it was a piece of her soul. Dropping it made her desperate to catch it, thus making it stop. This time, however, she was angry. She had unleashed more rage than she thought was possible for her to contain.

_"If I'm emotional... It becomes stronger."_

Sigyn was snapped out of her daze when she heard more screaming from the village. Fury started to boil inside her again. She heard buzzing and chriping sounds mixed into the cries of fear. 

Her eyes found the weapon the Chitauri had. She quickly picked it up and pushed the button on it. The weapon lit up, making the sound of an engine starting. She pointed it towards a spot on the ground and pressed the button again.

A beam of light shot out of it, making Sigyn stumble backwards a little bit. Smoke rose up from the crater it created in the ground. Grinning, she gripped it tighter. She could stop so many of them with just this weapon.

The sound of an explosion came from the village, followed by more screaming. Sigyn went from confident to frightened in less than a second. People were dying.

And she could help.

She dashed out of the grove and towards the village, a new fire burning behind her eyes. She wasn't going to be a coward any longer.

_"I'm going to fight."_


	18. The Fight

When Sigyn arrived at the village, she didn't even notice the fleeing residents or the burning houses. The only thing she saw was Chitauri crawling around every turn, practically coating the entire village. They were all standing there. Thousands of them. Laughing. They were laughing at _her_. All of them. They were _mocking_ her. She gripped her new weapon tighter and grit her teeth.

She was was going to kill them.

She was going to kill them _all_. 

_All of them._

Sigyn felt unnatural movement behind her. Without even looking to see what it was, she whipped her weapon around her, felt it go somewhere into it's body, and pushed the button. The sounds of the screeches and exploding made her grin. She glanced behind her to find only the lower half of a Chitauri on the ground.

A loud, high pitched, chirping shriek barreled towards her. Before it even had time to raise it's sword at her, she swung her arm widely and slit it's throat. Sigyn felt a shock of energy go through her as she watched it fall to the ground, blood spurting from it's throat.

 _She_ was the one in control now.

 _She_ was the one who was doing the attacking.

_"I'm the powerful one now."_

She spotted a group of them out of the corner of her eye. As she ran towards them, she stabbed one that was trying to surprise attack her in the head, throwing it to the side with her spear. The remaining ones that had hesitated were just starting to attack when she quickly pressed the button four times, knocking each of them off of their feet in near simultaneous action. 

Sigyn felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder. She glared fiercely in the direction of where she was struck, finding a rather large one towering above her. She grinned mockingly at it. Her mockery turned to snarling as she shot her magic-enhanced hand up to it's throat and started squeezing. She felt skin break as it dropped it's weapon and furiously tried to rip her hand off. She only dug in harder, making it suddenly go limp when she felt it's spine snap.

Sigyn let it fall to the ground as she looked at her hand, now covered in a slimy green.

 _"I wonder why I was always so afraid of blood."_ She thought as she rubbed it between her fingers, smirking.

The Chitauri started to notice that she was becoming a threat. They began to almost exclusively target her, making a deranged battle cry as they ran. Sigyn snickered as she widened her stance, ready for a challenge.

They approached her, slashing swords and spears at her. She started laughing louder as she stabbed in the heart, in the face. She made two, six, eight of them obliterate on the spot. One after the other, falling to the ground just as soon as they got near her. She held up her spear to the last one in her immediate position, panting and sneering at it triumphantly as it raised it's arms in surrender.

 _"So this is what it's like to have the upper hand. To be in a position of power. To fight. To be able to do anything. To be immort-"_

"Sigyn! What are you doing?!"

Her thoughts came to an immediate halt as she heard a voice shatter through her barrier of focus. She whipped her head around and hissed at them, furious that they dare distract her. Once it hit her who she was looking at, her face dropped from burning rage to surprise.

Her eyes landed not on an extraterrestrial creature, but Loki. He was covered in dirt and green blood, welding one of his daggers. Even though he was a ways away, she could tell something about him was off. It took her a few seconds of her blankly staring at him before she realized what it was.

He was shocked. He was legitimately shocked. She could tell it wasn't because she had left their tree. His eyes wandered to the being on the other end of her weapon. She followed his gaze and froze at what she saw.

An Asgardian was there. Not a Chitauri, but a man. A man whose family was watching in horror behind him while he had his hands raised and was flinching. Loki's words suddenly rang in her ears, remembering their conversation they had not too long ago.

_"Yes, I... I let all of the power I had go to my head. I was already beaten and exhausted, and suddenly having billions under my command and millions cowering at my feet... I got carried away. I killed more than I had originally needed to. I terrorized and pillaged..."_

Sigyn's weapon slipped out of her fingers and clanked onto the ground. The man opened his eyes when he heard her drop it. He ran back to his family telling them not to worry, and that he was okay. She scanned the piles of lifeless Chitauri around her, praying with her entire soul that Asgardians weren't among the things she killed. Luckily, she only saw Chitauri. 

_"But... I almost killed an innocent man..."_

And with that thought, for the first time, she noticed all of her surroundings.

Children were screaming and crying for their parents. Men and women were defending their families with little success. Bodies were scattered across the ground. People with injuries were being taken into healer tents that had been erected during the battle. Chitauri were fighting ferociously, killing without any remorse or second thought. They were enjoying it.

Just like she had.

Sigyn looked down at her trembling green-stained hands, amusement and euphoria crashing violently down to regret, shock, and despair.

"What... What have I done?" She whispered in horror. 

She noticed the stinging in her shoulder from where the Chitauri had grazed her. Cries of pain and chirping sounds surrounded her, suffocating her. The smell of blood hit her, throwing off her balance again. 

"Sigyn! Get out of here now!" 

Sigyn slowly turned her head around to the direction of Loki's voice. He was still shouting something at her, but an explosion blocked out all of the sound.

"I-" Sigyn's response was cut short by a force slamming into her.

The air in her lungs forced itself out, not going back in. She looked down to see a sword protruding from her stomach. She looked up to who was brandishing the weapon to find a Chitauri, looking almost like it was smiling.

Sigyn was paralyzed. She stood, staring the Chitauri in the face, unable to move.

She coughed up blood as her knees gave out, making her buckle down and fall. She plummeted to the ground, hitting it hard. She felt a warm liquid run down her side while the world was blurring quickly into darkness. The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was the Chitauri being torn to shreds by Loki.


	19. The Shock

_Earlier that day._

 

Loki sliced and dodged, putting his lifetime of combat skills to use, flawlessly ducking underneath weapons and countering every attack thrown on him. Now, since he knew what to expect of them, he was abundantly more cautious. He did get scratched and burned a couple of times, but nothing that would hinder his fighting. Although, it was a bit of a struggle keeping himself disguised while he battled, he could still be just as quick and sharp as he usually is.

When the last one in front of him finally toppled over, he stood still for a couple of seconds, regaining his composure. Once he felt he was out of his combat state of mind, he turned around to Sigyn's family behind him.

"I've gotten enough out of the way that you can make it to the escape route I showed you. Go. I'll make sure Sigyn gets there safely."

"Thank you, Bard. Alah, Ragmore, let's go." Sigyn's father grabbed hold of his wife's hand and started to lead her away. 

"Wait a minute!" She cried, letting go of his hand. Sigyn's mother suddenly ran quickly toward Loki and practically tackled him, surprisingly throwing him off balance.

"Thank you so much, dear. You've done so many things for this family, we can't possibly repay you!" 

He was stunned by this unexpected gesture. His arms were frozen in midair before awkwardly wrapping them around her.

"You're... You're welcome." He said uncomfortably.

"Alah! We need to go, now!" Sigyn's father shouted above the sounds of an incoming army's footsteps.

"I know! I'm coming!" She called back. After giving Loki a kind glance, she went back to her husband and they made their way toward the exit.

"Sorry about that." Sigyn's brother sighed as he walked up to him. "She tends to be overly dramatic. All the time."

"Listen, Bard..." He said, tapping his spear with his fingertips. "I was wrong about you. At first, I thought that you only wanted to hurt Sigyn. But now, I realize you've only done the opposite. You've made her happier and you've helped her with so much. I'm sorry I didn't trust you before. But since we obviously both have my sister's safety as our biggest priority for the moment, why don't we help each other out? I'm not as good as you, but I can keep my place as a fighter."

Loki was slightly set aback by his kindness. The last time someone besides Sigyn had treated him with this kind of respect was years ago. He tried to brush it aside, knowing bigger things needed his attention.

"I think I could manage to drag you along." He said, in an obvious joking manner. "She's this way." 

He gestured for Ragmore to follow him. He nodded and ran with Loki across the village.

They had just gotten to the edge of the village, when yet another heard of Chitauri appeared, making Ragmore groan in annoyance.

“How many of these damned things are there?!” He complained as he threw his spear at one running towards him, impaling it through the chest.

“Too many.” Loki mumbled. 

Trying to make a path out of the village was almost impossible. Every time they had the chance to step forward, another one would leap in front of them, blocking the way. More and more time was being wasted in this fruitless effort, making Loki become increasingly more worried about Sigyn. 

_“I just left her completely alone. Yes, I’ve protected her somewhat, and she can contact me if she needs too, but that doesn't mean she can’t get hurt... She’s probably scared out of her mind.”_ He started fighting faster, trying to make it to her as soon as possible.

Speeding things up did nothing to help. In fact, they started to make less progress. Bombarded with hundreds of enemies at a time was no simple task

"Bard! We’ll never get to her like this!” He yelled as he stabbed a Chitauri in front of him in the head.

“I’ll think of something!” Loki called back, elbowing one aside that had gotten too close.

The truth is, Loki had no idea what to do. He couldn’t see Lady Sif or The Warriors Three anywhere. The Village wouldn’t stand a chance without them. Even Thor was nowhere to be found. Inexperienced men and women were trying their hardest to fight, but too many of them were dying. 

Getting increasingly frustrated, he began to see Healers quickly pitch tents and transport the injured inside them. An explosion nearby caught him off guard, making him accidentally let one of the Chitauri cut his cheek slightly. Throwing it to the ground, he heard the screams of children who had lost their parents and the chirping of the Chitauri come to him from every direction. The low droning sound that resulted from the mass amount of them buzzing in one place vibrated in his ears, making even harder to concentrate. He gave up trying to disguise himself, it would be impossible for anyone to see anything more than a blur of him in this chaos. 

He suddenly saw bright flash of purple out of the corner of his eye. He could immediately tell that it wasn’t normal light. Only magic could make that kind of shimmering light.

Perplexed as to who would be using magic, he tried to see where they were. During his struggle to make his way through, he suddenly noticed that the ocean of Chitauri was getting thinner somehow. 

_“Someone else is fighting.”_ He realized, now even more confused. 

As if on queue, he heard it. The sound of it threw off his pattern of fighting and resulted in getting punched hard in the shoulder.

_"They're **laughing**."_

It wasn’t normal laughing. It didn’t sound like happiness at all. It sounded like insanity. Someone was enjoying this. 

As he got closer, his eyes widened when he was near enough to hear over the sound of battle to tell that it was a woman's voice.

He looked everywhere around him for Ragmore to see if he could hear it too. The only thing he could see was the mangled faces of Chitauri around him. Ragmore was nowhere to be seen.

He slashed his way through to the source of the voice, determined to find out who it was. More flashes of purple came from the direction of the laughter, the sound of Chitauri screaming immediately followed.

When he kicked down one in front of him, he suddenly found himself in a wide space almost completely free of Chitauri. When he finally saw who the laughter was coming from, his blood ran cold, making him freeze in his place.

It was Sigyn. She was the one who was fighting. She had a weapon of the Chitauri, literally tearing apart every one of them in front of her until they stopped moving completely. Her face was twisted into a frightening grin. She giggled as she ferociously made them burst into pieces, throwing a hand engulfed by magic into their faces, forcing them impossibly hard to the ground.

She was using magic.

She was laughing. 

Just when Loki thought it couldn't get any worse, she did the most disturbing thing of all.

A man ran across her path, headed towards his family. Her weapon turned pointed at his throat, forbidding him to move any farther. The man raised his hands, surrendering. Sigyn smiled, eyeing over her next victim.

A child from the man’s family cried in horror, making Loki snap out of his shock.

“Sigyn! What are you doing?!” He cried out. 

Sigyn’s head snapped towards him as she bore her teeth at him and hissed. Loki felt like someone had literally punched him. Her eyes were exploding with rage. She was infuriated beyond what he’d ever seen her before. This wasn’t sweet, kind, caring Sigyn. This was true, unrestrained anger. 

A look of recognition passed over her face, and any sign that she had been fighting at all disappeared so quickly, it was almost too fast.

Sigyn glanced back at the man, who was just as terrified as his family. Her expression shattered. Her face went deathly pale as she dropped the weapon. As the man ran back to his family, Sigyn, horrified, looked down at her hands, whispering something he couldn't hear.

He didn't know why, or how, but she clearly had no control over what she had been doing.

"Sigyn! Get out of here now!" Loki yelled, trying to make his voice louder than the sound of another explosion. Sigyn looked back up at him, looking terribly sick.

"We'll figure out what happened later, but we need to get somewhere safe!" He explained as loud he could.

That's when he saw it. A blur running up to Sigyn. Before he could even warn her, his blade went right into her torso.

Everything around them froze. The air started ringing with an awful silence that swallowed him whole. Sigyn didn't move, her hazed over eyes fixed to the monster in front of her. Every second felt like years that he was paralyzed in his place. Time stopped completely, refusing to move forward.

The sudden stillness was interrupted by Sigyn coughing up blood and plummeting to the ground.

Then, there was fire. Fire was what he felt. Pure, blazing, roaring, burning, relentless fire. It engulfed him, possessed him. He had no control of his actions. He was the most angry he had ever been in his entire life. Everything was a blurred, foggy image that passed by him so quickly he couldn't process any of it. 

The next thing he knew, the Chitauri was dead at his feet, mauled like an animal had tried to eat it. His daggers were covered in it's blood, slipping in his hands. Seeing Sigyn out of the corner of his eye, he dropped them to the ground and kneeled next to her.

Her stomach was bleeding profusely, making a pool of blood form around her. Color was draining from her fast, making the crimson dripping from her mouth look even darker. Trying his hardest not to just grab her and run, he picked her up as gently as he could and started to walk to the nearest tent.

_"Sigyn. Please... **Please** don't die."_

______________________

"Where... Where am I?" 

Sigyn lazily opened her eyes watching the world starting to come back into focus.

She was lying on a healer's table inside a large tent. Sounds of continuous battle roared just outside. She saw that her torso was wrapped in a few layers of bandages, sealing off her injury. A healer stood beside her, mixing together something in a mortar and pestle. Sigyn suddenly noticed that she wasn't feeling any pain. She tried to move one of her legs, making sure she wasn't paralyzed. Relief flooded over her when it shifted on the table.

"Oh! You're awake." The healer said, putting the mortar and pestle down on a table. "We've already given you medicine so that you wouldn't be in pain. Are you feeling okay?"

Sigyn sat up, inspecting herself for any other injuries.

"Yes. I feel-." She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the state of the tent.

It was like a wild animal had been let loose. Glass was shattered on the ground, shelves had been pushed over, medicine was spilled everywhere, medical tools had been broken, holes were torn in the tent, everything was chaos. A few healers were trying to clean everything up.

"What happened?!" Sigyn asked the Healer.

"Oh, well, I think we need to let you rest a bit, don't you think?" She said in a slightly panicked voice.

"Where's Lo- Bard?"

"Dear, you really do need rest. Why don't you just lay back down and-"

"No! I need to know what happened to Bard! Please tell me where he is!" She cried. The Healer sighed, defeated.

"If you're talking about the man who brought you in here, he's out fighting the... Whatever they are."

"Did he say anything?" Sigyn persisted.

"He was really angry. He carried you in here while you were unconscious and yelled at us to fix you. I kept telling him to calm down, that we had this under control. Eventually, he stopped screaming and stood silent, watching while we healed you. He stayed the whole time, no matter how many times we tried to tell him that it would take a long time. He refused to let you out of his sight. He bloody trashed this place like a madman and ran out of the tent slaughtering everything in front of him when we told him..." 

"Wait, told him what?" She asked, suddenly anxious.

The Healer cringed, realizing she shouldn't have said that. Quickly, she grabbed a bottle of medicine from the table in front of her and opened the lid.

"This should help you go to sleep. You need as much rest as possible to heal."

"If there's something wrong with me, I need to know." Sigyn said quietly. The Healer desperately looked at the others in the tent for help. They shrugged as if to say "She's right." The Healer sighed again, putting her head in her hand. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again.

"I don't think you're in well enough health to hear this but... I'm so sorry. I'm so... Sorry. There was nothing we could do to save it..."

"Save what?!" Sigyn asked, frightened. The healer looked up at her in surprise.

"You mean you didn't know about the baby?"


	20. The Denial

“The… What?”

The healer cringed heavily and cursed under her breath. The other Healers stared at Sigyn, their eyes widening in realization.

“I just misheard her. She pronounced something wrong. Her voice became distorted because I’ve just woken up. I didn’t hear her right.”

“The… What?” She repeated

The Healer was frantically searching the shelf in front of her, eventually finding the mortar and pestle she had set down earlier and poured the powder inside into the bottle of medicine she had been holding.

“Dear, you really do need to sleep. I’ll explain after you’ve had some rest and are in better physical shape.”

She continued to stare at her, waiting for her to apologize for saying the wrong thing, for her to explain that Sigyn had heard her wrong from the battle outside, for her to say that she was accidentally thinking of a different patient.

It never came. The healer just looked at her with tears in her eyes. Sigyn looked around at everyone else in the tent. They all looked shocked, saddened, their hands were over their mouths. She blinked a couple of times, and then slowly got off of the bed.

“Dear… You really shouldn’t stand up right now. You’ll make yourself worse.”

The words didn’t go through Sigyn’s ears. She started to walk towards the exit of the tent. One of the Healer’s grabbed her arm, trying to restrain her from going outside.

“Miss, you can’t go out there! You’ll just get hurt more!” 

She turned her head to look at the man gripping her. Hazily, she put a hand on top of his, and sent a burst of magic out of her fingertips. He flew across the tent, crashing into one of the shelves they had just finished putting back up. Sound started to dissolve in the around her as she turned back around and continued to walk to the exit. Muffled, frantic voices came from behind her as she parted the front of the tent to walk outside. No one tried to stop her.

Sigyn felt like she the air she was walking through had thickened to the point where she had to force her way through it. She vaguely saw a Chitauri coming at her from the corner of her eye. Her expression stayed neutral as she blasted it away so forcefully that it slammed into three of it’s comrades and knocked them over too. She walked on, resuming her attempt to search through the ensuing massacre to find someone.

“Who was I looking for again? Was it Ragmore? No. Why can’t I remember…”

She felt a slight pang in her stomach as she barely stepped out of the way of an enemy that came straight at her. 

“Why does my stomach hurt?”

She thought she might have heard someone calling her name.

“Oh, now I remember. I’m looking for Loki. I wonder where he could be.”

A flash of lightning came from the sky.

“Oh. I guess Thor’s here now.”

As she walked through the battle, she felt completely numb. Absentmindedly dodging weapons and tossing aside attackers. Nothing felt Lucid, clarity was absent. 

“There’s too many people. I can’t find him anywhere. What did I want to tell him again…?”

Her hand, probably from habit, subconsciously went to the necklace around her neck. As soon as her fingers touched the polished surface, she felt reality snap back around her so quickly that she almost fell over. 

The terrorizing sounds of war slammed into her so hard that she slapped her hands to her ears and tried to block it out. Sword clashing, battle cries, death, and screams of agony and terror forced their way into Sigyn’s head. The tremendous roar that echoed through her mind filled her to the brim with panic. Her heart began to pound like a rock against her chest when she realized she had made it to the thick of the battle. She started to run as fast as she could, ducking under weapons, and jumping away from soldiers. 

She didn’t even know where she was trying to run to. She shrieked in fear as she went back and forth, trying to find somewhere, anywhere that she could hide. The battle started to thin out as she forced herself away from the center. Pushing and blasting aside anyone or anything that got in her way. She noticed that the fights were starting to get more spread apart. There were less bodies on the ground and she could move just a little more freely. Just when she was starting to feel like she might finally be getting somewhere safe, her terror was heightened when she felt the medicine the healers had given her starting to fade. 

Sigyn started to slow down, pain restricting her from going faster. She started doubling over, slowing down into a struggled walk as she winced and panted, desperately trying to find somewhere to hide. She was so busy trying to force herself to keep moving and trying not to get hit, she almost walked right into a house.

Relief flooded over her when she realized that she had finally gotten to the houses in the village. She jumped away from a swinging sword to get to the door. Every fiber of her being prayed that it wouldn’t be locked. She twisted the knob and it opened. Now that she was in a somewhat safe place, when she closed the door behind her, the pain and exhaustion hit hard. 

She fell back against the wall and fell to the floor, curling into a ball as she held her stomach. She suddenly became aware of the cuts and bruises that practically covered her whole body. In her hurry to run away, she didn’t even notice she was even being touched. A Big piece of her hair had been chopped off as well. Luckily, she didn’t have anything too serious besides her stab wound, but she didn’t know how long she could hide in there without being found and attacked, or get in too much pain. 

Destruction howled just outside of the thin walls she was cowering behind. She covered her ears, frantically trying to think of a way to escape. 

“Wait a minute…”

Sigyn dove her hand into her pocket, practically rejoicing when she pulled out the paper Loki had given her. She clutched it in her hands, fully set on ripping it to shreds, when she hesitated.

“I… I can’t face him. I can’t. Not after…” 

Then, all too quickly, she remembered everything that happened. She remembered their night in the woods, how she had suddenly started to feel sick for no reason, when she was stabbed… And what the healers had told her.

Someone slammed against the wall outside the house, making Sigyn jump. She looked down in horror when she saw that she had accidentally torn the paper.

“No! Please! My daughter can’t-”

His words were cut short by him choking on his own blood.

Sigyn uncontrollably burst into tears, not being able to hold them back any longer. She cried. She cried for what felt like weeks. Pain, anguish, and terror escaped from her body racking sobs.

“He knows.

He’s coming.

And he knows.”


	21. The Reveal

_Earlier that day_

“ _I am **not** leaving_!”

“Listen, we have everything under control. We’ve already given her medicine so that she won’t be in any pain. We’ll take perfectly good care-”

“ _I **said** I am **not** leaving_!”

The healer sighed, frustrated with Loki’s stubbornness. She abandoned trying to convince him in his current state of blind rage and walked back to the small circle of the three healers that were around Sigyn. He furiously struggled to stay calm as he restlessly paced the tent, forcing himself to not look at her. He couldn’t look at her.

Normally, she was his source of peace and self control. Whenever he felt himself starting to get violent impulses or boiling rage, he thought of her. He would think of how she always took care of him, how she was loyal to him when she very well could have just abandoned him. He’d think of the strength she had to get through so many trials within such a short time, more then anyone, let alone her, should go through. He’d think of how her laugh made all of the colors around her become more vibrant, more beautiful. He’d think about how small and fragile she felt in his arms. He’d think of how simply touching her would make every single detail of his agonizing, brutal past crumble out of his memory.

But now, every time her name simply entered his mind, all he could see was her bleeding on the ground. He could only see her getting stabbed over and over and over again. He could only see her dying in his arms as magic drained the life out of her. He could only hear her screams of agony in the other room from waking up in so much pain. He could only see her cringing in her bed from the horror he had inflicted on her. He could only see her being pulled into an ally by the man who was beyond lucky that he remained alive that day. He could only see her crying when she was traumatized. He could only see the trials that he had inflicted on her, no matter what he tried to do.

“ _How many more times do I have to watch her cry because of me?!  How many more times is she going to be hurt before she **dies** because of me?! She can’t die. I can’t lose her. I can’t lose someone else. Not again. I won’t let her die. I’ll… I’ll kill anything and anyone I have to if it means I can protect her_.”

Suddenly, the healers started looking tense. Their whispers got more frantic and their movements began to get quicker. It might have been subtle, but he sensed it in a heartbeat.

“What is it?!” He demanded

“Oh, uh, false alarm! Sorry.” One of them reassured.

Given his infamous title, he wasn’t about to be fooled at his own game.

He stomped up to the table and yanked one of them aside, avoiding looking at Sigyn. He gripped their arms so tight he thought he might have heard something crack when the healer flinched.

“ _Tell me what’s wrong with her_!” He practically screamed.

“If you want her to get better, I suggest you _stop crushing my arms_ and let me help her!”

He groaned frustratedly as he let go of her and put his face in his hands. She straightened her skirt a bit before returning to the table as if nothing happened. She has clearly dealt with people like him before.

He turned away from them, repeatedly telling himself that he wasn’t scared. He wasn’t scared. He wasn’t scared. He was angry. Not scared. Angry.

He dug his nails into his fists, trying his hardest not to start breaking everything within his sight. They were taking too long. Something was wrong. He could tell he wouldn’t be able to hold himself together for very much longer. He knew he was going to break, and he could just hurt more people if he did.

“ _I’m not scared. Not. Scared_.”

“She is healed.” One of them announced as he walked away from her bedside. Loki waited for the feeling of relief to come, but it never did. Something rang in the Healer’s voice that didn’t quite convince him that he wasn’t finished talking.

“ _And_?”

The Healer sighed, shuffling uncomfortably. The other two Healers in the tent picked up a stretcher and carried it outside to find other wounded villagers. Although, the way they seemed to rush each other out of the exit made it seem like they didn’t want to be there.

“I suppose you’re the one responsible for her at the moment… So I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me what?!” He cried.  

“ _She’s_ fine.” The healer said as Loki dashed to her bedside. “Like I said, we’ve completely healed her. It’s just that…”

He gently lifted one of her freezing hands from off of the bed as he watched color start to return to her face. She looked like she was sleeping. She didn’t look scared or sad, she looked like she was dreaming about when she was a child and she was playing with her brother. Not burdened, not tired, not lying on the ground dying.

“Her… She… Your…” The healer struggled to speak behind him. He could hear him take a deep breath before continuing.

“Assuming you’re the father, I’m afraid that your child didn’t make it. We… We tried everything we could to save it, but... It was too late. I’m so, so sorry.”

Loki froze for a moment, and then carefully put Sigyn’s hand back on the table.

“The… Child?”

“Yes. And… She... will never be able to bear children again.” He heard the healer’s voice waver as he spoke.

A long, painful, torturous, almost dark silence hung in the air for a moment.

Then, all at once, every single trace of self control he had disappeared.

A burst of magic sent a shelf to the right flying, shattering and ultimately disintegrating every bottle of medicine on it. The healer gasped and shielded his face as he was caught off guard.

“You… You just…”

 

Loki turned around slowly. He would have sliced the Healer’s throat if he hadn’t remembered he was standing there.

 

“You… _Your face_! It changed-”

 

“Surprise.”

 

The healer burst out of the tent, ripping a big hole in it.

 

He walked outside the tent, grabbing the neck of the nearest thing to him. He tore his hands into it and ripped it’s throat out. A garbled chirping sound fell to the ground next to him.

 

He looked at his surroundings.

 

There was _so many_ of them he could kill.

 

And so he began.


	22. The Rescue

Sigyn’s sobs echoed through the empty house, reflecting back the sound of pain and anguish that escaped her throat. The air around her became denser, causing her breathing to get weaker and weaker. She was surrounded by the violent death that ensued just a wall away from her. Surrounded by the pain that tore through her whole body. Surrounded by the continuingly amplifying sound of her own heart breaking. She was curled up on the floor and covering her ears. She couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t take the pain. She couldn’t take so many lives being destroyed in front of her. She couldn’t handle her own feelings anymore. She had been completely broken, both inside and out. The pain medicine had all but worn off, causing her horrified cries to become pathetic whimpers and gasps. Every breath she took slashed through her like a whip that was on fire.

Loki was nowhere to be seen.

_“He’s not going to come. I’m going to lie here in agony until everyone I’ve ever known has died. Mother, Father, Ragmore… Loki. They’re all going to die. And I’ll be here on the floor, not being able to even move a finger. He what if he’s already be dead? We’re all done for. Agard is going to-”_

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the door almost flying off of it’s hinges. She prepared herself to hear Loki’s voice, to have to face him after what had happened, to watch him slaughter everything in his path, to watch him be in even more pain. If her family were still alive, she would to have to tell them the truth at this point. She’d have to tell them about Loki. About the Magic. About their unborn child. They would disown her, shun her. She’d never be able see them again.

But to her surprise, a voice that definitely wasn’t Loki’s made it to her ears.

“Ah ha! I thought I heard sounds coming from in here!” He said in triumph. Sigyn forced her head to turn towards the unidentified the man who stood before her. Her eyes landed on the one who was known as Fandral from the Warrior’s Three. An immediate sense of relief that it wasn’t Loki who stood there flooded through her.

“Oh dear, you’re gravely injured, aren’t you? Good thing I always carry this around with me.” He said as he unclipped a flask from his belt, opening the top as he kneeled next to Sigyn.

“Drink this, if you can.” He said, putting it to her lips. She struggled to swallow, as every single movement she made was like a white hot blade stabbed her over and over again. When she was finally able to force it down, she felt the familiar cooling feeling that she had felt with the golden liquid when her heart had been injured. Instantly, almost complete relief came over her, making her sigh in relief.

“You should feel much better now.” He reassured as he clipped the flask back to his belt. “Now, I need to get you to a healer before that wears off. Please, allow me to assist you.” He said as he offered his hand to her. Sigyn flinched as she slowly sat back up. She avoided his gaze and didn’t take hold of his hand. Her sense of relief suddenly disappeared. Now that pain wasn’t clouding her thoughts, she realized the situation she was in.

“Who are you really taking me to?” She asked in a quiet, raspy voice.

“I’m… I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, cocking his head to the side and blinking.

“Yes, you do. Is it Loki? Did he send you here?”

“Madam…. Loki is dead.”

“Oh, shut up!” She snapped. “There’s no way you heard me from outside. ‘you knew you heard sounds coming from in here’?! Please. Bombs are exploding out there. There’s no way you heard me. He told you to come here, didn’t he?”

Fandral’s act broke and his smile went away.

“Yes, he sent me.” He sighed. “I don’t know why he did, much less how he’s alive, but the way his expression was when he told me to find you… I knew that it was important that I find you”

“Please… Don’t take me to him just yet.” She said, her voice cracking. “I... need to be alone for a while.”

“Dear gracious! Did he do something to you? Do you need someone to protect you from-”

“No!” She cried loudly, making her cringe. “He didn’t do anything to me. I just… I don’t want to see him yet.”

“Well… Alright.” He said, raising a suspicious eyebrow. “But I really do need to get you to a healer.”

Sigyn nodded. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle being in that much pain again. Fandral scooped her up in his arms and dashed outside of the house. The overwhelming smell of charred flesh and blood immediately rushed into Sigyn, making her already battered body feel even sicker. She curled up tight and clung onto him the hardest her weak hands could. She hid her face into his chest. She didn’t want to see any more pain and suffering. She didn’t want to watch children cry over their mutilated fathers. She didn’t want to watch women wash the blood of her husband off of her own face. She didn’t want to see it anymore. Fandral seemed to understand, as he adjusted his stance to let her do so.

He dodged attacking enemies left and right, ducking his head and shielding Sigyn with his gold armor. She was surprised at how fast they were moving, considering they were being stabbed at from every angle, and he was carrying the weight of a whole other person with him.

“I bet you didn’t know that Loki isn’t the only one who’s light on his feet!” He bragged as he moved out of the way of a falling body. She didn’t respond. She just held him tighter as her shaking increased, fearing she might accidentally let go.

“And, we have arrived!” He announced. Sigyn felt them go through the opening of a tent. She lifted her head to see healers scurrying about. Grabbing bottles and powders and giving them to the ones who had been injured during the fight. Luckily, no one had anything worse than a missing finger in this particular tent. She relaxed significantly. Being surrounded by calm and collected healers helping the wounded was a nice change from the constant sound of limbs being torn apart. Fandral lay her down on an empty bed and unfolded the blanket on the end of the bed.  

“Please, take care of her.” He said to the nearest healer as he put the blanket on SIgyn. “I know I’ll lose an arm if she isn’t treated like a queen.”

The healer nodded, grabbing a syringe that lay on a table lined with dozens of identical syringes. Sigyn’s assumptions that it was pain medicine was confirmed when she was injected with it, completely ridding her of pain.

“I suppose I should be going now.” He said, starting towards the opening. “I’m afraid that nothing I can say will fool him. He’ll force the truth out of me, whether I like it or not. I’m going to have to tell him that you’re here. You might have a few minutes to yourself, but I can’t promise anything.”

“Wait!” Sigyn cried. Fandral stopped mid-stride at the opening, giving her a “What is it?” look.

“Why… Why did he send you instead of getting me himself?”

“Well… He wasn’t actually the one who told me to get you. Thor did. He was the one who found Loki first. Thor wanted to talk to him, but as you can imagine, he put up quite a fight. So, Thor compromised and sent me instead.”

_“Thor found him?! No. He’ll be executed. I can’t let that happen. I need to-”_

“No, you can’t help him at this point.” Fandral said, as if reading her mind. “What happens to him will be Thor’s choice and Thor’s choice alone. Although I will say this, He’s always had a soft spot for Loki, no matter how many times he denied it. I’m positive he won’t be executed.”

Sigyn paused, realizing that what he said was true. Resignation showed on her face as she accepted that there was nothing she could do.

“Thank you, for everything.” She said softly. “I would have died if it weren’t for you.”

Fandral walked back to her bedside, shaking his head.

“Listen, I still don’t know exactly who you are, but I could tell from the moment he said your name that he cared about you. I’ve known him since we were young, and the only time he ever showed that much love for someone was when he was with his mother. He loves you. And believe me, if something bad happens to the person he loves, entire armies couldn’t stop him. I know that everything will somehow end up fine between you two.

“Well, I imagine Loki’s already thought of a hundred different ways to decapitate me, so I better get back. Stay here, stay safe.”

 **  
**He ran back out of the opening just as a healer injected her with another syringe. Sigyn felt sleep pound into her all at once, bringing on a dreamless slumber.


	23. The Reunion

_Earlier that day,_

__**  
  
**

_Slash_

__

_Stab_

__

_Rip_

__

_Twist_

__

_Tear_

__

_Kill_

__

Those were the only things that went through his mind. Barely having enough consciousness to know not to kill the innocent, anything that tried to attack him or looked remotely reptilian-like was instantly slaughtered in front of him. He needed to feel bones snapping beneath his fingers. He needed to see blood spatters on his hands. He needed to hear the strangled cries of the pathetic mindless mutants who had hurt so many people. He needed to kill. He needed to kill. In his trance of violence, almost nothing could have, let alone should have, broken his fixed state of compulsive murder. But something broke through to his ears anyway.

“... Loki?”

He froze just as he grabbed a Chitauri’s arm. The worst possible voice to hear at the moment hit him. That dreaded voice that he had hoped he would never hear again.  

He clenched his teeth and snapped the Chitauri’s arm backwards, causing it to screech in pain.

“Well, look who _finally_ decided to show up! Father’s little _golden boy_.” He hissed, turning around to the sight of Thor, in all his kingly glory, standing in the most confused state he had ever seen him. He could see the hundreds of thousands of questions that ran through his head as he stared at him.

“You couldn’t have picked a worse time to find me, Brother.” Loki seethed. A Chitauri suddenly ran into Thor, knocking him out of his state of shock. He whacked it aside with his hammer like it was nothing and started storming towards Loki.

“Do we have to do this now?!” Loki complained. “In case you haven’t noticed, There’s a _war_ going on.” He said, slightly stepping to the left, letting a chitauri who was aiming to kill fly past him.

Loki’s face dropped from rage to shock in almost an instant as soon as he sensed it. He whipped his head around towards the area where he felt it.

_“Sigyn.”_

His entire attitude changed as he completely forgot about Thor, shoving him aside and focused only on saving her. Anyone and anything in his way was pushed violently to the side as he tore through the crowd towards the signal where Sigyn was. He was jerked to a sudden stop when Thor grabbed his wrist.

“Where are you going?!” He demanded.

“Get _off_ of me!” Loki growled as he yanked his wrist from his hands, beginning to run again.

Thor grabbed his wrist again, but locked it tighter, so much so that Loki couldn’t twist out of it. Loki was so enraged with him for holding him back that, without even realizing it, he grabbed one of his daggers with his other hand and went to stab Thor’s hand. He caught that arm too, trapping Loki.

“I said, where are you going?!” Thor yelled. Loki went deathly quiet, glaring at Thor so intensely it could have burned a hole in his head.

“ _Let. Go. Of. Me._ ” He hissed through his teeth.

  
Thor’s expression changed, as if he suddenly realized that this wasn’t an escape attempt, but something else entirely.

“Thor, the west side of the village is… Well, mostly cleared out.” Came a voice approaching them. “We should start heading for-”

The voice stopped abruptly and started to walk slowly towards the two before speaking again.

“... Oh no. Not again.” Said Fandral as he came into view. “Haven’t you died enough times already?”

“We need to get to some place less dangerous. Follow me.” He called out to him. He began to drag a struggling Loki with him as Fandral followed until they got to an area that was relatively clear of battle.

“I don’t have time for this!” Loki shouted as they came to a stop. “Let go of me before I rip your hands off!” He tried to yank away again, but didn’t budge an inch from Thor’s impossibly strong grip.

“Where are you trying to go?” Thor asked, this time with curiosity.

“Well, I’m not going to die again, if that helps.” He said, fury mixing with his sarcasm. “But _someone_ probably will if I stay here another second!”

Thor looked over Loki for a moment, trying analyze whether he was lying or not.

“Fandral.” Thor said without looking away. “Go to wherever Loki says this person is and help them.”

  
“ _ **No**! Don’t touch her_!” Loki screamed at Fandral. Both Thor and Fandral simultaneously gained the same shocked look to their faces at Loki’s outburst.

“... Her?” Fandral asked, surprised.

“Where is she?” Thor persisted. Loki literally growled at him, making his point clear.

“You’re not going to leave.” Thor said, squeezing Loki’s wrists so hard that he felt something crack, making him flinch. Loki glared at Thor again with the same intensity, groaning loudly as he realized that there really was no way he was going anywhere.

“If you even think about remotely hurting her in any way.” Loki said, looking back at Fandral. “Your _grandchildren_ will be screaming in pain.”

“Believe me, I know.” He insisted. “Where is she?”

“She’s in the first house on the right in the northern part of the village.” Loki spat out. “Now get out of my sight.”

Fandral simply nodded and started running to the northern village. As Loki looked back at Thor, he could feel his violent impulses starting to pump through his veins, making it harder and harder to resist bashing his skull in.

“Who is this woman?” Thor asked suspiciously. “You’ve escaped death once, I don’t expect a logical answer from you right now... But the last time I saw you this angry was when Mother died. How long have you known her? How long have you been here? Why are you so concerned about her? Is she injured?”

At the mention of injury, Loki suddenly remembered the reason he went on a rampage in the first place. His face lost it’s anger and gained the surprise it should have had when he first heard about her in the medical tent. He loosened his grip and dropped the dagger he had been holding so tight just a moment earlier, letting it clank onto the ground. The world around him got heavier as he stopped trying to escape entirely. At his sudden humility, Thor let go of him in surprise. He fell to his knees at his release, finally feeling the weight of what the healers had told him.

“Loki… What happened to you!?” Thor asked as he kneeled next to him. “Are you.. _crying_?”

Loki quickly wiped away a tear that had started to fall down his face.

“... People are dying, Thor.”

“I have my best team out there fighting, they’ll be fine.”

  
“And what gives you the idea that I would talk to _you_?” Loki said, suddenly standing up and trying to act like he hadn’t just broken down. “He’s taking too long. I’m going to get her myself.”

He started to run to where he had sent Fandral. Thor didn’t attempt to stop him.

___

“Oh look! She’s waking up.”

Fandral’s voice was the first thing Sigyn heard when she, once again, awoke in a healer’s tent. As she started to gain more consciousness, she realized that her hand was being held. As her vision came into full focus, the first thing she saw was a war beaten Loki sitting by her bedside, looking worried. The sight of him made the heartbreak and agony she had felt not that long ago almost completely melt away. She smiled weakly as she laced her fingers into his, making his expression relax, obviously relieved that she was okay.

A sudden pang in her torso made her cringe and curl inwards a little. Before Loki even had the chance to ask if she was alright, a healer who saw that she had woken up injected her with more medicine. The pained look on her face however, didn’t disappear. She let go of his hand and hid it underneath her blanket as she remembered why she had tried to avoid him in the first place.

“What’s wrong!?”

She didn’t answer, avoiding his gaze.

“They told you, didn’t they.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and curled up more as she nodded. He hung his head, going quiet.

A few moments of silence followed. An awful, heavy, agonizing silence. A silence that coated the atmosphere with the pain that screamed underneath it. A silence Sigyn would probably never forget.

“Sigyn… I’m so sorry.” He said, breaking the silence.

She let the words sink into her for a moment. She slowly sat up in her bed and wrapped her arms around him for the first time in what felt like years.

“It’s not your fault.” She whispered.

“I should have protected you.” He said as he returned the embrace.

“No. I got myself into this mess.” She said, looking him in the face. “Remember when you saw me using magic? When I realized I had enough power to fight, I got carried away. I was strong enough to take control over my enemies. And… I enjoyed it. If you hadn’t been there, I would have killed that innocent man...” She let go of him and looked away, disgusted by her own actions she had taken.

“I became power hungry. I felt like nothing was able to hurt me… But I was wrong. It’s my fault, Loki. Not yours.”

“It’s difficult to control power if you’re suddenly given so much of it.” Came a voice. “You need to learn how to control it, how to understand it, before wielding it.”

Sigyn turned towards where she’d heard the man, to find the King himself standing right in front of her. Her eyes widened in panic as she flicked her eyes back to Loki, remembering that he had been captured by him.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” He said.

“Loki is still helping us fight the enemy.” Thor reassured. “He’s not to be arrested yet. He explained how he survived, why these aliens are attacking, and what happened to Odin while we were waiting for you to wake up.”

“Quite the story, if I do say so myself.” Fandral said as he appeared from the corner. “An entire undiscovered realm filled with these creatures? I wouldn’t have believed it if they weren't crawling around outside right now. Which reminds me, we’d better go back out there before this village turns to dust, shouldn’t we?” Thor nodded in agreement.

“Say what you need to say, Loki. We’ll be waiting outside.” He said as he went out the opening of the tent with Fandral.

“Sigyn…” He said as he turned back towards her.

“I’m so sorry I used magic” She burst out. “I’m so sorry I did it when I knew I shouldn’t have. I’m so sorry I lost control. I’m so sorry about...” She trailed off, wanting another shot of pain medicine. Or ten.

“I’m just… Glad you’re okay.” He sighed. “This was one of the reasons that I warned you not to use it anymore. Yes, you could have died, in fact it’s a miracle that you didn’t, but I also knew that there was always the chance that this could happen. I just didn’t want to believe that you would go through the things that I went through. I’d already caused you so much pain already, I didn’t want you to go through anymore… I should have told you. I should have warned you that this might happen. Now you’re hurt. Again. Because of me.

“I’d… I’d be a terrible father anyway.”

“You can sit here and argue, keeping them waiting all day.” She said, digging her nails into her fists. For the first time in her life she actually wanted to cry. But she couldn’t. No tears came. She had to hold everything in and let it boil inside her, making it harder and harder to speak.

“But it all comes down to it being my fault. If I had just stayed there like you told me to, I wouldn’t have gotten into this mess.”

He breath suddenly caught in her throat and she had an unexpected coughing fit, causing small stabbing pains in her torso. She could feel Loki tense up beside her.

“I’m fine.” She said before he could even ask. A Healer came to her bed and felt her forehead.

“I said I’m _fine_.” She said, brushing off the healer’s hand.

“You have a fever.” Stated the Healer as she reached for another blanket that was under Sigyn’s bed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” She said to Loki. He nodded, surprisingly willing to trust her.

“But I’m _fine_!” She insisted as the Healer made her lie down, putting another blanket over her.

“Sigyn.” He said as he stood from the chair he was sitting in. “Rest. I’ll see you again. We’ll find a way to make everything okay. I promise.”

He kissed her once more before dashing out the tent entrance.

Sigyn knew he was telling the truth. Some of the things he had said in the past may have been deceitful lies that she had fallen for, but she knew he wasn’t lying. He had just spoken the most sincere thing she had ever heard him say. The devotion and meaning in his voice was clear.

And she knew that they would fix everything.

 **  
**She knew.


	24. The Secret

The first thing she noticed when she woke up from her induced slumber for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day, was how soft her bed was. As she sat up in the bed and opened her eyes, walls of gold shimmered almost blindingly as they reflected the light from the torches spread across the enormous room.

"Am I... In the palace?" She wondered out loud as she began to adjust to this new atmosphere that was void of the sound of war.

"Yes. You're in a recovery room." Came a sudden voice from the door. Sigyn jumped as it broke the still silence in the room. Her eyes widened as the image of Lady Sif appeared in the light. Lady Sif had always been a model for Sigyn, her strong will, sense of adventure, and most of all, bravery, is the kind of person She’d always wanted to be.

“I’m sorry for intruding, but Thor has asked me to explain to you what has happened since he saw you last.” She said as she sat down in a chair next to the bed.

Sigyn gaped for a moment more, completely floored that her idol was in the room, talking directly to her. She immediately became incredibly self-aware of herself, with her feebleness, uneven hair, cuts and bruises, pitiful fear shaken state, and her tear stained face.

“I suppose I should start with the battle-”

Suddenly, everything that had happened in the hours before slammed back into Sigyn. The death and anguish, the terror and tragedy, and the feeling you only get if you experience war firsthand.

“Why am I in the palace?!” She suddenly squeaked, getting panicked from remembering. “Why does Thor want me to know?! Where is my family?! Where is Loki?! What-”

“Calm down. I was just about to explain.” She said in a collected voice. Sigyn took a shaky breath, clutching her blanket, trying not to break down again.

“Firstly, Thor would like to apologize for not coming sooner. He was on Midgard, battling an intelligent machine I believe he called ‘Ultron’ that tried to wipe out all of the life on Midgard. He wasn’t aware of the invasion until he came back to Asgard.”

“The battle has ended.” Lady Sif continued. “We found the portal the Chitauri were using to get into Asgard. With the help of some ancient relics, Thor, and a certain Magician that seems rather fond of you, we were able to close up the portal and clear out the remaining Chitauri.”

Sigyn said nothing. While an immediate feeling of relief flooded over her that the death and violence had stopped, images of gruesome and disturbing deaths still haunted her.

“... How many people died?” She asked quietly.

Lady Sif took a deep breath before answering.

“Half of the village.”

Sigyn’s face didn’t change. She had cried so much that day that she had completely run out of tears to shed. But she still felt it. She felt the suffocating grief come over her, not being able to do anything about it.

That’s so many people. So many people she had come to know and love, so many mothers that their children would never see again, so many men who died protecting their families. So many wives that would never see their husbands again. So many families who died in each other’s arms, accepting their fate.

So many people.

“... And my family?” She asked even quieter, dreading the answer.

“They’re in the palace and unharmed. Loki led them to safety at the beginning of the battle. Your brother, however, remained behind and fought.”

“What?! Is he-”

“He’s bruised, battered, got a leg wound, and broken his arm, but he’s going to be fine.”

Sigyn touched her necklace as even more relief came over her at the news of her family’s safety.

“As a matter of fact…” Lady Sif continued. “At one point during the battle, I was surrounded to the point where I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it out. Your brother suddenly appeared, wiping them out in a surprisingly efficient and quick manner. He saved my life. With that, and with his incredible skill with a spear, we offered him a position in the warrior’s three.”

“... Surely you can’t be serious?!” Sigyn gasped, shocked.

“He accepted before we could even finish asking him.” Lady Sif said, letting a small smile slip through her attitude of professionalism.

Sigyn couldn’t believe it. Ever since the alliance had first been formed, he was intent on becoming a warrior. For so long now, she would have watched him do incredible techniques with his spear, making every girl around him swoon whenever he practiced.  She would see the gleam in his eye whenever the Warrior’s would come back from a mission. He told tell of how they looked exhausted upon their return, but triumphant at their unbroken streak of victories. He would talk about the adventures that the warriors had been on, sighing and saying how he wished he could go with them.

His dream was coming true before her eyes. She broke into an enormous as she felt one of the happiest moments she’d had in what felt like decades. If she had the ability to, she would have cried from happiness. And while she was still penetrated by the grief of losing half of her village, she’d found a ray of happiness. So she clutched onto it and didn’t let go, not wanting to stop feeling it’s healing warmth.

“Now, about Loki.”

Sigyn’s joy seemed to slip from her fingers at the mention of his name. She felt the color drain out of her face as she began to become nauseated. Worried thoughts dashed back and forth inside her head, almost making her dizzy.

_“Is he going to be executed?! Put in prison for life?! How much has he said about us?! Will I be punished?! Have they told my family?! Will they shun me from their lives because of this?!”_

“From the expression on your face and his stubborn refusal to tell us anything about you,” Lady Sif sighed. “I assume you two have history together, so I feel I should tell you that he’s not being sentenced to death.”

Sigyn knew she should have felt some kind of relief, some kind of joy from this news; but she had the nagging feeling that there was more to his punishment, something else that she should worry about.

“Because of his help with Malekith and with ridding the village of Chitauri, the severity of his punishments have been lifted. But, he has been sentenced to be imprisoned for one year, be banished from the Palace to live in the Village, and to be stripped of his title as Prince of Asgard.”

Sigyn let the words sink in for a moment, processing every syllable.

__

_“One year… Banished… Stripped of his title… He’s not going to die. He’s not going to be hurt. He’s going to live in the village… With... Me...”_

“Well, that’s all I needed to tell you.” Lady Sif said as she interrupted Sigyn’s thoughts and standing up from the chair. “Is there anything else you’d like me to explain to you?”

Sigyn felt a pang from her stomach wound, clutching it as she winced. She could tell that healers had sped up the healing process for her, she still felt pain.

__

_“Maybe it’s just me… Thinking about it… Maybe this pain isn’t from my wound...”_

“Are you alright?” Lady Sif asked, looking slightly concerned. Sigyn didn’t answer. She couldn’t find a single word that she could say that described what she was feeling. Her heart had been torn apart much worse than her body had. She could feel each individual tear, both big and small, and the pain they caused. The burning, stabbing, and throbbing that enshrouded her mind with agony.

“... You were pregnant, weren’t you.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

Shocked, Sigyn slowly looked up at Lady Sif’s face as emotion started breaking through her to her expression.

“I know. I know because I’ve seen that look on your face before… I’ve seen it... so many times…” Lady Sif breathed in a shaky breath, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I’ve seen it… In the mirror… So often… For so long…”

There was a long, silent pause before she continued.

“I’ve felt the horrible weight of a thousand stones placed on your shoulders.” Sif said, her voice trembling. “I’ve felt the twisting feeling you can only feel if…”

Sif put her face in her hands.

“Sometimes I… I still look in the mirror…”

“I’m sorry.” She said, suddenly straightening herself and ridding her face of emotion. “That was… Terribly rude and unprofessional of me. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Sif turned around and walked a few steps before Sigyn spoke.

“Wait.”

Sif stopped mid-stride, lingering a moment before turning around, waiting for her to speak again.

Sigyn slowly got out of her bed and walked towards her.

“Have you ever told anyone this before?” She asked as stopped in front of Sif.

“...No” Sif whispered. “It just came out. I’m sorry. Seeing you like that… It reminded me…”

Sigyn immediately wrapped her arms around her, finally feeling tears fall down her face.

Sif returned the embrace, holding Sigyn as if this were the first time she’d ever done it in a long time.

“We can make it.” Sigyn said, surprised at her own words. “We can get through this.”

_“Why did I say that?! I don’t know what I was talking about. How can I just say things like that? I don’t even know how I’m going to get myself through this, let alone her!”_

“I wish I had such bravery to think those things.” Sif said, her voice slightly cracking.

Sigyn was shocked into a frozen state at Sif’s words.

__

_“... Bravery? Am… Am I brave?”_   
  


“You… You do have that much bravery, you just need to find it within yourself.” Sigyn said, suddenly beginning to feel confidence in what she was saying. She let go of Sif, holding her shoulders looking her in the face.

  
“It’s not going to be easy. In fact, it’s going to be painful. But you can do it. I can do it. We can find our own bravery and face this head-on. You slay monsters without even blinking. This? This is your new monster. You need to slay it. It will take a long time to build up the strength, and it will be exhausting. But _we can do it_. I know we can.”


End file.
